


My Hero Academia Sanrio Boys

by Charmanderxerneas



Category: Hello Kitty - All Media Types, Sanrio - Fandom, サンリオ男子 | Sanrio Danshi | Sanrio Boys (Anime), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Basically Kirishima falls in love with everyone, Multi, and also its a sanrio boys au, and its hard on kiri, and then kiri falls in love with all of them, but i had to for plot ;-;, dw its not described or anything, i didnt want to kill this chara cuz i love him, iida and deku, main ships are baku and denk, the death happened a long time ago
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22999537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charmanderxerneas/pseuds/Charmanderxerneas
Summary: Eijiro Kirishima feels as if something is missing from his life, until he meets and befriends a group of high school boys who love Sanrio characters- the Sanrio Boys:Katsuki Bakugo, Denki Kaminari, Tenya Iida, and Izuku Midoriya.(Basically its a sanrio boys au. I took sanrio boys plot and shoved it onto mha. You don’t need to know about Sanrio Boys to read it but it’s really just self indulgent fun. Eijiro and other UA boys love Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters!)
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Kaminari Denki, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Todoroki Shouto, Iida Tenya/Kirishima Eijirou, Iida Tenya/Midoriya Izuku, Kaminari Denki/Kirishima Eijirou, Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku
Kudos: 24





	1. It all Started With Tiran

7:00 AM. 

The loud alarm beeped incessantly, tearing the young redhead away from his dreams. After a moment he groaned, moving his arm out from under the warm comfort of his covers to slam the snooze button. He missed, and ended up knocking the alarm clock off of his bed. He attempted to lean over the edge of his bed to shut the alarm off once more, only to fall to the cold hard floor with a loud thud.

There was a call from the other room, inviting him to breakfast. And so began another long day. He was soon heading off to school- The prestigious UA highschool. It was the greatest hero school in Japan. And Eijiro Kirishima wanted to be a hero more than anything.

Eijiro was a completely normal and average first year highschool student. He usually had a can do, confident spirit that let him charge full ahead towards his goals, even if recently that energy and spark in his life had been fading. It wasn't that he was unhappy necessarily, though he was feeling like something was missing. 

As Eijiro approached the school, a sudden voice drew him from his thoughts, "...Good morning!"

Kirishima looked up, it was the class president, Tenya Iida. He was standing in front of the school building and greeting some of the students before their classes. "Oh… Good morning!" 

Tenya waved one of his arms in a fashion similar to a robot, "...Your hair is messier than usual this morning. Be sure to fix your bed head before class!!"

Kirishima reached up to touch his hair a bit, his face turning red. He had thought his hair was fine this morning, "....R-right!..." After a moment he ran into the school.

It wasn't long until all the young heroes were in the gym for their combat training. Everyone was focused on enhancing their own individual skills and quirks. Kirishima was using his quirk, turning his skin hard as rock before using it to deal powerful punches to the wall he used for training. 

His attention was soon caught by the sound of loud explosions filling the air. He paused in his training and turned to watch. The source of the explosions was Katsuki Bakugo, Kirishima’s classmate. They hadn’t talked much, but Kirishima had admired him for a while. He was somewhat in awe of Katsuki, who was using his explosion quirk to destroy large amounts of rock. He was always doing his best, and using his quirk to the fullest. Even now, his nitroglycerin sweat was visible dripping down his body, he was worked up and using his full force with these explosions. He always gave it his all and shined brightly. Kirishima wondered if he’d be able to shine in the same way.

Kirishima found himself having thoughts like this about the other boys in his class often. Later that day, he spotted a classmate in the library, who had been pouring into a book and scribbling things down in his journal. His name was Izuku Midoriya. He always seemed like a hardworking student who knew everything about heroes and was serious about his studying. He had impressed Kirishima quite a bit, especially during combat. Izuku seemed full of surprises in that regard.

When Izuku glanced to look at Eijiro, he realized he had been staring. Kirishima quickly went back to doing his work.

The day was soon over, and as usual Kirishima headed to the courtyard to wait for his friends. In the courtyard, the sound of laughter was coming from a few girls sitting by the side of a cheerful, yellow haired boy. 

“...Hey! Kirishima! Sorry to keep you waiting, bro!” Eijiro turned and saw a familiar face, waving with a grin as she approached him.

Kirishima smiled, “Oh, Mina! No worries, man! I hope your dance practice went well!”

There was a sudden yell from the boy who had followed Mina to meet Kirishima here.

Kirishima gave him a somewhat concerned look, “....Sero man, what’s wrong?”

Sero’s attention was caught on the small group of students Kirishima had noticed earlier, “...Isn’t that Denki Kaminari?!? Damn! How the hell is he so popular with the ladies over there? He’s not even in any clubs or anything…. And he’s more popular than I am!” He shot the yellow haired boy a glare.

Denki had noticed, especially with Hanta yelling loud enough to be heard across the courtyard. He simply grinned and gave the boys a friendly smile, winking as he waved at them.

Kirishima had turned to look at Denki as well, “....Look at him smiling like that.”

Mina grinned, and threw her arm over Hanta’s shoulder, “....I just think someone’s jealous he can’t find a date!”

Hanta was still glaring, “...You’re damn right I’m jealous! I just want a girlfriend or boyfriend really bad! It’s not fair!!”

Mina giggled a bit, “...You’re easy to read, Sero...Oh, right, that reminds me. Kirishima, you’ve seemed a bit unfocused in class recently.”

Kirishima stiffened up a bit, “...Oh yeah...Well. It’s just been-“

Mina held out her hand, “No need to finish that thought, my friend! I can tell what’s been going up…. You ALSO just want a date! Like Sero! Amirite?”

Kirishima froze, face turning red, “...Hey, That’s! That’s not it at all!”

Hanta grinned, stepping in between the two, “Alright then! I totally know what all of us should do today! Let’s all go looking for dates!”

Mina interrupted him, “...Sorry dude, I’ve already got a girlfriend.”

Hanta froze, “...You what?!?” He soon turned to shake Kirishima a bit, shouting about how Mina hadn’t told him, “...I just want a date bro! How come everyone has one but me?? Promise you’ll help me find someone Kiriii!”

Kirishima had to shout to be heard over Hanta, “...Sero, calm down bro! Sure, I’ll help you find a girlfriend or boyfriend, I just-....!!” He stopped. 

It had only been a moment, but when he had glanced over he saw a small flash from across the courtyard. Kirishima had seen something small and shiny hanging from the belt of Denki Kaminari, perhaps a keychain or a charm. Though he had only seen it for a second, Kirishima felt he had recognized the figure on the keychain, “.....Was…….Was that…??”

“....Kirishima, are you listening to me?!?!” Sero had begun shaking Kirishima harshly again, forcing him away from his thoughts as he continued to whine about not having a significant other.

~~~

The sun was beginning to set, casting warm colors onto the clouds in the sky. The three had begun walking back to the transit station to head to their homes after a long day out.

Hanta sighed happily, “...Ahh~ I feel so much better after that!”

Mina was skipping ahead of him, “...No kidding. You sang really loud at karaoke tonight, Sero!”

Sero had a large grin, “...Says you! You were singing so loud, I thought you were gonna break the speakers! You’ve got a voice that could rival Present Mic’s, Ashido!”

Mina giggled, playfully elbowing Sero, “Shut up!” 

Kirishima suddenly stopped. He heard something that grabbed his attention- he turned to stare at what looked like a small girl. She was standing on the sidewalk across the street, crying out loudly.

“...Huh? What’s wrong, Kirishima?” The other two had stopped, Mina was looking back at him, her eyebrows twisted into slight confusion.

“......Huh? Oh….It’s... just. Her.” Kirishima pointed across the street at the crying girl. 

“....She looks like she’s lost.” Remarked Mina.

“....I’m sure her parents are looking for her right now.” Said Sero. The group had paused to stare at the girl.

After a moment Mina asked “...Are we going to do anything to help her?”

Sero glanced at his phone, “...It’s getting to be pretty late for a little girl like that…But. We’re not pro heroes yet, do you think we’d be allowed to get involved with a lost child like that?”

“.....” Kirishima turned to face the others, “....I have to do something about it!” without a second thought he began to cross the street, moving towards the girl.

“....Wait, Kirishima!” Mina took a step after him.

Kirishima stopped for a moment, before turning to look at his friends with large, worried eyes, “...Promise you guys will help me out if anything goes wrong??”

Sero crossed his arms, “...You’re such a softy, Eijiro…. Just go and help her out!”

Soon Kirishima knelt down in front of the child, trying to be on the same level as the small girl. “....Um…. Hey there!..... Did you come here today with your mom or something??” It was difficult for him to keep his voice down, talking to the girl.

The child let out a loud cry, “...MOMMA!!!”

Kirishima winced, ‘Crap! I’m not supposed to make her cry more!!’ After some quick thinking, he came up with an idea as to how to calm the girl down. He started to make faces at her, hoping she’d laugh. He squished his cheeks and stuck out his tongue, but nothing seemed to actually help with calming the girl down. 

That’s when he noticed the bag at the girl’s side. It was shaped like a small white dog, with long white ears and blue eyes. “....Woah, you must really be a fan of Cinna…...I mean, You must really like cute puppies!”

The girl sniffed and turned to look at the young hero, “....I like… Cinnamoroll.”

Kirishima smiled, “...Oh, so Cinnamoroll is his name then? He’s really puffy and cute, isn’t he?”

The girl wiped her tears away with her arm, before holding up the small bag, “....His tail.”

Kirishima looked at the bag, it was turned around, showing off Cinnamoroll’s soft tail, “....That's adorable! It’s shaped like a little cinnamon roll. That must be where he got his name.” Kirishima chuckled a small bit, poking the bag. It was made of felt that was soft to the touch. 

The girl was smiling now, she opened her bag and began digging through it. She soon pulled out a small notebook, adorned with a design displaying several small characters. In the center was Cinnamoroll.

“....He has a lot of friends!” The girl began to explain, pointing at the characters as she said their names, “....Hello Kitty, My Melody, Pompompurin, Badtz-Maru, Pocchaco…”

A small card fell out of the girl’s bag. Kirishima picked it up. The top of it read, ‘Lost Child Card’, and below was a phone number. “....Hey! This will work!”

After having called the number on the card, the child’s mother came to pick her up. “Thank you very much for finding my daughter!”

The girl smiled, now holding her mother’s hand, “...Thank you, hero!!”

Kirishima was standing proud, “...It’s no problem at all! It’s my duty to help those in need!”

The small girl held out her hand to Eijiro, “......Here! I want you to have this!” 

Kirishima gave the girl a sideways look, “....Huh? Are you sure you want to give me something?”

The girl smiled and nodded. So Kirishima took what was in her hands, “...Thanks so much, little dude!”

Soon they waved goodbye, and the girl and her mother left for their home.

Sero grinned, walking up to Kirishima, “...Jeez, you’re such a nice guy, Kirishima! What a hero!”

Mina threw her arms around the two boys and pulled them close, “...Yeah, that was pretty epic of you, Red Riot!”

Kirishima was red, he laughed “...Knock it off, you two! You don’t have to overdo it.”

Sero stepped forward, “...Hey, what did she give you anyway?”

“...Oh, this?” Kirishima held it out to show his friends. He had been given a small pin. On it was an illustration of three dinosaur characters. The one in the front looked to be an orange Tyrannosaurus rex with a determined expression.

Sero squinted at it, “...What is this? Is it from some sort of Tv show or something?”

“....It’s one of those Sanrio characters.” Kirishima was looking down, his voice was a bit quieter than usual, “...You know, like Hello Kitty and stuff.” He was staring at the pin, his eyes were a bit wide.

“...Sanrio? Man, I used to have some of that stuff when I was a kid. I remember the pink sheep that was friends with that bunny.” Mina was peering over Kirishima’s shoulder at the pin, “....That doesn’t look like any Sanrio character I remember though….”

“...Well, it’s one of those rare ones! His name is Tiran… There’s really not much merchandise I’ve seen of him…” Kirishima stopped after that, his face was red and he shoved the pin away into his pocket, “...Of course, I only know all that because that little girl explained it to me!”

Sero stepped away from Kirishima, “...Still, it’s probably a bit weird for a highschool boy to have something like that. Aren’t you always talking about how manly you are dude?”

Kirishima froze a bit, “....Ah. Y...Yeah, you’re right…” He gave a bit of a nervous smile, as they began to walk home for the night.

~~

That night, Kirishima was silent eating dinner. He was staring at his food, lost in thought. He didn’t have any real, big problems. His schoolwork was fun, and so was hanging out with his friends. Even so, something felt like it was missing. Despite having enrolled in one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, nothing had really changed in his life. Maybe he needed to join some extracurricular activities or extra classes? Nothing like that was really appealing to Eijiro though. He felt like he needed to accomplish something, but he didn’t know what. Then maybe he could shine like those boys that he admired at school…. He was lost as to what to do with himself.

When he was through with dinner, Kirishima went to his room and collapsed on his bed. He lay there in silence for a while. When he turned his head, something caught his eye. The Sanrio pin he had been given earlier fell out of his coat pocket and onto his bed.

Kirishima gazed at it for a while, “....Sanrio, huh?.....” The pin tugged at something in his brain. A distant memory, words that had been said long ago. “...There’s nothing that you can’t do, Red Riot!”

Kirishima stood. He opened up his closet and dug through it, until he had found an old, dusty box. It was soon open on his bedroom floor. 

Kirishima sat still, staring at it’s contents, a sad sense of longing in his eyes, “.....It’s been four years, hasn’t it?”

In the box lay a large, soft plush. It was a doll of Tiran, the orange Tyrannosaurus Rex from Sanrio’s “We Are Dinosaurs!” The plush was old and covered in dust, but it was otherwise clean and kept in good condition.

“It’s alright, you can do it Red Riot! Look, Tiran and I will watch you together!”

It had taken place when Kirishima was young, he wasn’t much older than 10. His hair was black and worn down. He remembered the warmth of the playground, as he attempted to hoist himself over the playground bar to perform a flip around it. He was out of breath and slowing down, growing a bit discouraged with his lack of success.

“Just a little more, Riot!” Eijiro heard the encouraging words being called from behind him. Kirishima had looked back to see his most favorite person in the world. The BMI Hero: Fatgum. He was a mentor to the young Kirishima, and would often look after him as a child. He was holding the toy dinosaur in his lap, and he had the young Tamaki Amajiki quietly watching by his side. They were Kirishima’s closest family. Fatgum had his usual friendly smile as he continued to shout at the boy, “...Tiran is cheering you on too!”

Kirishima held tightly onto the bar as he prepared himself, listening to Fatgum’s voice. He kicked his legs, and hoisted himself over the playground bar, managing to perform a flip. A moment after, he grinned, “...Fatgum!! I did it!” He ran towards Fatgum, embracing him as the hero hugged him. He had always given warm, comforting hugs. He had always been there to encourage Kirishima, never doubting his abilities. Fatgum believed in Kirishima no matter what, and was his biggest supporter.

The Tiran plush had been a gift from Fatgum. He was told that it was a very special plush. There were few of it’s kind, as “We Are Dinosaurs” was not a very popular franchise for Sanrio. Kirishima had cherished it. He adored how manly the dinosuar seemed, full of confidence and ready for action. He grew to love not only his plush, but all of the Sanrio characters that he knew. He took his plush wherever he went. Whatever he did, he always held it close. He wanted to always have Tiran and Fatgum by his side. He thought that was how it would always be.

It was the same playground Fatgum would often take Kirishima and Amajiki to. It had been a late August day, the orange leaves on the trees were falling and a cold breeze was in the air.

“You should be embarrassed liking stuffed animals like that. Look at Eijiro, he’s being super girly!~”

There had been a small group of children shouting at him. Eijiro was clutching the toy close to his chest, glaring. 

The kids had begun to chant at him, laughing with a mocking tone, “Eijiro’s acting like a stupid little girl! Someone who carries around baby crap like him could never become a real hero!”

Kirishima growled, his fist clenching a bit, his quirk making his hands hard as rock, “....I’M NOT! I’m not girly, just… just shut up you jerks!” Kirishima stepped toward. “...STUPID! IDIOTS! YOU PIECES OF CRAP!!”

He tossed his stuffed animal at the children with full force. It hit the dirt with a soft thud and a loud tear.

One of the kids shouted, “...Uh oh, we made Eijiro mad, everyone run!!” 

Soon Kirishima was alone in the playground, glaring at the ground with tears in his eyes.

Fatgum came over. He picked up Tiran from the ground, “....What happened here, Red Riot?... It looks like your Tiran’s gotten covered in dirt…” He began to wipe it off, before pausing, “...Oh no, he’s torn his arm…” There was a small moment of silence as he inspected the doll, “.....Everything will be alright. I can get him fixed up for you, Red Riot.”

“....I don’t care!” Kirishima had shouted at him, speaking much harsher than he had ever spoken to Fatgum before. “...I don’t need such an unmanly, girly toy anymore!”

Fatgum gave him a bit of a confused look. He kept a small smile, “...Come on Riot… I should still fix the poor fella up. That’s what a hero would do-“

“Shut up!” Kirishima’s shout stopped Fatgum, “...I….I hate Sanrio! And I hate Tiran! And… And I hate you, Fatgum!” Eijiro yelled loud enough to the point where it hurt his throat. He had run off without another word, before Fatgum was even given the chance to react.

From that day on, Kirishima kept away from Fatgum. He would refuse to see or talk to him, even when Fatgum had reached out to the young hero.

Kirishima remembered silently stopping by his agency shortly after the incident. He had peered in through the door to see Fatgum mending the toys arm. He was talking to Tamaki as he did so, “....I’m sure everything’s going to be fine… Kirishima is a kind hearted kid. I know he’ll come visit us soon.”

He had slipped away and ran home before he could be seen. He hadn’t forgiven Fatgum, placing all his frustrations onto his mentor.

A year passed. It would take Kirishima a bit longer to be honest with Fatgum. He wasn’t ready to face him or apologize for the harsh way he had acted. The weeks passed as he put off seeing him. There came a day when he told himself that he needed to talk with his old mentor again. “....Tomorrow…. I’ll definitely talk to him tomorrow.” If he had just apologized to him, then they could be together like a family again. Just like they had always been. He completely believed that. He had never doubted it.

He would have never believed that Fatgum would have been killed defending people in a villain attack before he would be able to make his amends.

…

Kirishima lifted the old plush from the box. He ran his hand gently over the stitches mending his arm. He then stood to place the plush on his dresser.

“....Fatgum….You said I could do anything, right?.....But. It’s hopeless…” Kirishima moved his arm to wipe the tears welling up in his eyes, “....I wasn’t able to apologize…. And I can’t even admit to liking the things that I like… I’m hopeless.”

~~

It was the next day. Bakugo ran his fingers through his hair, washing the shampoo out well with the water in the shower. His eyes were shut as he relaxed.

“....Oii, Kacchan!” a cheerful voice called from the shower door.

Bakugo grunted a bit confused and turned to look. There was a familiar face, smiling at him while he showered, “...Great job at practice this morning, Bakubro!”

“...The hell? Sparky. Don't look.” Bakugo’s voice was a low growl. 

Denki grinned, leaning forward a bit, “...A little late for that. We’re friends who already know all the embarrassing parts of each other, so it’s cool though, right bro?”

Bakugo moved forward a bit to gently shove Kaminari away from the shower, “...Knock it the fuck off. Go away before I kill you.”

“...Hey Bakugo, I noticed something this morning.” Denki seemed to ignore Bakugo’s requests to leave. “...One of my little princes has gone missing. Bakugo, you’ve been practicing at the school all weekend, right? Did you see him somewhere?” Denki clasped his hands together, “...I’m sure the poor guy is feeling so lonely all by himself!”

“....Like I’d know, dumbass….You were bound to lose him eventually.” Katsuki turned off the water and grabbed a towel to begin drying himself. 

Denki pouted, stepping back from the shower, “...Aww, You’re so mean to me Bakugo~”.

“Get out of here already, you fuckin’ dumbass!”

~~

Kirishima had noticed it while changing out of his clothes for gym. There was a shine that caught his eye on the floorboards below, so he had leaned over to investigate it. “...this is….”

He picked it up. It was a small keychain in the shape of a small, friendly looking yellow dog wearing a brown beret. Kirishima stared at it, “....This is...Pompompurin, isn’t it?... I’m pretty sure…”

He turned the keychain around. On the back someone had pasted a photograph that was a selfie of two boys. The one that appeared to be holding the camera had a bright grin and familiar yellow hair, while his partner seemed to glour at the camera with piercing red eyes.

“....Isn’t this that Kaminari kid we saw in the courtyard yesterday?”

Kirishima stared at the keychain more. He hadn’t been mistaken yesterday when he had seen this hanging from Denki’s belt then. Denki must own Sanrio merchandise even though he’s so gaudy and outgoing, Eijiro figured. Kirishima decided to return the keychain to him after lunch. 

When he entered the classroom door, he had called a bit, “...Um… Denki Kaminari??”

Denki had been talking with a few girls. Kirishima recognized the purple haired one as someone he had been talking to yesterday. Denki looked up when he heard his name called, “...Huh?? What’s up??”

Kirishima paused a moment, “...Uh. I wanted to talk to you.”

“....Sure thing man!” Denki smiled a bit and stood, walking over to join Kirishima at the door, “...What did you need me for dude? Do I know you at all?”

“...My name’s Eijiro Kirishima. I believe we’re in the same class.” Kirishima was standing tall, giving this kid a friendly smile. 

“...Oh, Kirishima, Kirishima… Yeah, I think I’ve seen you chillin’ around here before. So what’s up man?” Denki leaned against the doorframe.

Kirishima began to hold up the Pompompurin keychain, “...Well, I have this-“

“Denki, are you done yet??” The other girl Denki had been talking to, who was invisible, called out to him.

Kirishima froze, realizing how many people were there in the room.

Denki blinked, giving Eijiro a confused stare, “...What’s wrong?”

Kirishima stood completely still, his mind started to race. He had to wait, he couldn’t give Denki back this keychain now. If he did, all of his friends and the people in the class would see. Kirishima was sure that if they saw a guy like Kaminari using girly Sanrio merchandise, that they would turn against him and find him a freak… He couldn’t let something like that happen to Denki because of him!

“S-SORRY! It’s nothing!” Kirishima clasped his hands shut and immediately hid them behind his back, before running off down the hall.

Denki stepped forward, “...Huh? Wait a second!-...” He paused, catching a glance of the Pompompurin keychain in Kirishima’s hand. 

Denki took chase after Kirishima, “Hey!!! Wait a minute!!!”

Kirishima was too busy lost in his own thoughts to even hear him, ‘You’re such an idiot Kirishima! You’ve gotta pay more attention!’

“Hey, why are you running away!?!?” Denki was not slowing down in his pursuit of Eijiro.

“...Well, I’m sorry about a bunch of things!” Kirishima turned around a corner, Denki close behind.

Kaminari had a bit of a pout on his face as he ran, “It kinda hurts my feelings that you’re running away though!”

Eijiro was looking back at him, “That’s why I said I’m really sorry!”

The two almost ran into Izuku Midoriya, standing with his books in the hallway as they passed by. He stared a bit as they ran from his sight, “....What are those two doing??”

Denki’s expression changed, as he gave a small smile chasing after Eijiro, “...Hey, it’s pretty fun running like this actually!”

“This is FUN to you?!?” Kirishima’s eyes were a bit wide, staring back at Denki with disbelief.

There was a sudden shout, “...YOU TWO, STOP!!”

Kaminari and Eijiro skidded to a halt, standing immediately still, as their stern looking class president Tenya Iida marched in front of them. He waved his arm, “...School rules prohibit running in the halls! You could run into something or someone and get yourselves hurt!”

“...Yes Iida!!” Kaminari and Kirishima shouted in unison, they were standing perfectly still watching Tenya.

“...Alright then. Please no more running, respect these hallways you two!” Tenya gave them a serious look, before turning to walk off to his next class. 

Denki and Kirishima kept their eyes glued on Tenya. As soon as he had turned down the corner, the two boys scrambled to start running as fast as they could again.

Denki shouted at Kirishima as he sprinted after him, “...You bad boy!! You should listen to the class president’s orders!”

Kirishima sputtered a bit, “Well, You should too!”

In the next hallway, Bakugo had been looking around the floor of the lockers carefully, a scowl on his face, “...Jesus. Where did that dumbass drop that thing?”

Kirishima sprinted past him, with Denki shouting, “Wait up!!” close behind.

Bakugo looked up as they ran out to the courtyard, “...The hell? Sparky?”

Once outside, Denki had slowed himself, looking around more carefully. He passed a stairway, muttering, “...That’s weird… I thought I saw the dude go this way…” He walked away to investigate more of the courtyard. 

Kirishima peered out from behind the stairway. He watched him walk out of sight, before groaning, out of breath, “....I think I lost him…” He took a moment to lean against the stairway, before looking at the Pompompurin keychain. “...I’m sorry Denki… I can’t let you go through something like that because of me…” His experience as a child in the playground flashed through his mind.

“...Because of me what!?!?” There was an aggressive yell from behind him, causing Kirishima to turn around with a small, timid gasp. 

A tall, strong figure leaped over from the stairway, landing in front of him. Kirishima recognized his glaring red eyes and spikey blonde hair immediately. It was the cute but determined guy from his class, Katsuki Bakugo.

Katsuki immediately pinned Kirishima up against the wall. Kirshima cried out a bit alarmed, “...B-...Bakugo??”

“Did you do something to him?!? Huh!?!?” Bakugo was shouting much louder than necessary, clearly pissed off.

“..N-No man! I, I didn’t do anything to him!” Kirishima shrunk down a bit, Katsuki towering over him. He seemed so manly, even if he was intimidating. 

“...You fucking sure about that?!?! I saw him chasing you… You better not have fucking messed with him, shitty hair!! Only I’M allowed to mess with that dumbass, got it?!?” Bakugo moved a hand close to Kirishima’s face, it began to spark a bit with his quirk.

“...Okay Bakugo, that’s enough!” Denki was sat crouching next to the two boys, a serene smile on his face as he moved forward to grab the Pompompurin keychain from Kirishima’s hand, “...He was just trying to return my little prince to me, weren’tcha bro??”

“...Tch.” Bakugo immediately backed away from Kirishima, who made a soft noise. His head was still spinning from everything that was going on.

Denki stood up, he winked at Kirishima in an attempt to look cool, “...Thank you very much, Kirishima!! And you too, Bakubro!”

“...Uh…Yeah… It’s no problem…” Kirishima was still leaning against the wall.

Bakugo barked at Denki, “...That shit was misleading. I thought this shitty hair was tryin’ to mess with you.”

“....Does that mean you care about me, Bakubro?” Denki was beaming at him as he twirled his keychain.

“...SHUT UP!...” Bakugo then turned to look at Kirishima, “...Why the hell were you running then??”

Denki turned to look at Kirishima, also clearly interested in his reasoning. Kirishima shifted a bit, turning red, “W...Well… You see.”

“Hey! Kaminari, what are you doing out here?”

Everyone turned to see the two girls Denki had been talking to in the classroom, Kyoka Jiro and Toru Hagakure.

Toru waved a bit, “...Hey, Bakugo’s out here too!”

“...” Jiro tilted her head, “...Kaminari. That thing you’re holding…”

“...Hm?” Denki turned to look at his Pompompurin keychain for a moment.

Kirishima yelped a bit softly, glancing quickly between Denki and the girls. He panicked for a moment, waiting for them to harass the boy about it.

Toru moved forward a bit, “...I see, you must totally like Sanrio!”

Jiro moved her hands to her hips, “...No kidding.”

Denki grinned, holding his Pompompurin close to his face, “...He’s so cute though! He’s my cute little Purin dog!” Denki dramatically kissed the keychain, giving the girls a silly wink. 

Kirishima yelled out a bit alarmed, staring eyes wide at Denki.

Jiro began to mess with her earphone jack, “...Well, Sanrio is pretty cute. I think Kuromi is pretty cool...”

“...But…. Isn’t it a little weird for a boy like you to be carrying around Sanrio stuff?” Toru asked.

“That’s not true!” Denki’s tone was a bit defensive, but he turned to look at Bakugo, “...Right Bakugo?”

Bakugo was standing, hands in his pockets and eyes shut, “....Don’t you dare get me involved, Kaminari…” He then pulled out and flashed a small card, which had the design of Badtz-Maru on it. 

Kirishima gasped quietly and stared, and Denki explained, “...See? Even Bakugo likes the Badtz-Maru dudebro!”

Bakugo growled softly, “...It’s not ‘the Badtz-Maru dudebro!’ Can’t you just call him Badtz-Maru? He’s a cool little fucker and doesn’t need you calling him such shitty names.”

“...Well!” Denki moved a bit, he leaned over to give Kirishima a kind look. “...I guess you could say we’re the Sanrio boys!” 

Bakugo also turned to look at him, he stood still, holding his Badtz-Maru card in the air.

“......Sanrio Boys??” Kirishima’s voice was soft. He stood still, realizing how brightly these boys were shining, how confident and unashamed they seemed. That was the first moment in the longest time that Kirishima began to feel that he could be something more, that he might have the chance to have light in his life and enjoy the things that he loved. 

But it would take a lot more for him to get to the point where he would be comfortable enough with himself to express that to the world.


	2. Gift Gate After the Rain

Denki was rubbing shampoo through his hair, making sure to wash it well. The bottle of shampoo on the small shelf next to him was yellow, and it had the face of Pompompurin on it. The room was steamy, and the yellow haired boy was relaxed. He soon got out of the shower and moved over to the mirror above the sink. He grabbed his hairdryer and stuck the end of the long cord into his mouth. He found that using his electrical quirk to power it was much easier than walking all the way over to the outlet on the wall. Using his quirk this early in the morning always woke him up anyways.

Bakugo poked his head into the bathroom. His body was wet and he was currently drying himself with a towel that had the Sanrio character Badtz-Maru on it. “....Oi. You don’t have any clean towels in here, dumbass… Are you alright with using the one I’ve just used?”

Denki had a sleepy smile on his face, “...That’s fine, Katsuki…” 

Soon, after the two boys had gotten dressed, the smell of pancakes began to fill the kitchen. Denki yelled a bit so his voice could be heard across the house, “...Yo, I’ve got a scrumptious breakfast ready!!”

Bakugo had gloured a bit when he saw it, he moved forward to turn off the stove, “....You idiot, you’ve burnt them! Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to let you cook?!?”

The two walked next to each other to get to their school. They had lived surprisingly close to each other ever since they had been young, so Denki would often drop by Bakugo’s place in the morning. They would shower and get ready for the day together, as good friends often do.

~~~

“...You want the scoop on those two popular boys, Kirishima?” Mina was leaning on her desk, scrolling on her phone as she talked to her two friends before class, “...What, do you want to date them or something?”

“...N-no!!” Eijiro’s face was red, “....I was just wondering about them since I don’t know them at all!”

“....Well, they’re both in this class, so I’m sure you’ve seen them around.” Mina began to explain, “...There’s Denki Kaminari. His quirk is producing electricity. We’re pretty chill together actually! He’s flashy and kind of a jokester, but he’s also pretty cheerful and friendly, so he’s pretty popular with both girls and guys…. I think he’s totally bisexual, so you’ve probably got a chance Kiri-“

“Mina, I told you, I’m not looking to date them!!” Kirishima was yelling, glaring at her red faced. 

Mina just laughed, “....And then there’s Katsuki Bakugo. His quirk is explosions. He’s number one in our whole class! He’s also really loud and angry, always yelling and swearing and telling people to die.”

Sero frowned, “....Jeez Mina, I thought you were gonna tell us something new. Everyone already knows all that stuff about those two. Even I made those kind of surface observations.”

Mina huffed up her cheeks and pouted, “...Well sorry! I thought you wanted to know more about them! See if I ever spill more tea for you, complaining about it like that...”

Kirishima groaned a soft bit, “...Aww, come on Mina, you can continue. I’ll listen, you don’t have to stop explaining just cuz Sero’s being a bit whiney.” That earned a small shove from Sero.

Mina paused for a moment, “....Anyways, those two are pretty famous around here for being really big fans of those Sanrio characters. Totally cute, right??”

“....” Kirishima leaned back in his seat, thinking, “....They weren’t exactly doing much to hide that they liked it so much, were they?.......They’re really open about it…”

“....Yeah, it’s kind of weird.” Sero grinned, “...Think they use liking cutesy stuff to score cute girls?”

“Oh come on, that has nothing to do with it! Those two boys were pretty popular before people knew they liked Sanrio.” Mina shut her eyes, “...It’s not really a big deal. A couple of highschool boys adoring cute stuff like that is a bit odd, but hey! It’s not doing anyone any harm.”

“....I guess you’re right Mina.” Sero said, “I’m sure they’re totally chill people.”

“....Still though…” Mina frowned, “....I’m sure those two liking that Sanrio stuff has the exact opposite effect. There are plenty of people who think it’s uncool for guys to like cute girly stuff like that.”

“...” Kirishima was staring at the floor. His voice was soft and quiet, “......But….Isn’t it natural for people to feel that way and like stuff?” He was muttering more to himself than to his friends.

“...What was that Kiri?” Both Mina and Sero were staring. 

Kirishima sat upright, realizing what he’d said, “...Um!! I mean!! It’s nothing man, you’re right. It’s not like I’m interested in that stuff at all....” He stood up, “...I should go… I’m thirsty so I’ma go get something from the vending machine!”

Once Kirishima was alone, he put a dollar into the machine and sighed to himself. “...Guess I was too pushy…” He wasn’t paying much attention to what buttons he was pushing, and soon the machine dropped out a soda can labelled “Diet Cola”. A picture of All Might was brandished across it, advertising the drink. Kirishima made a face as he retrieved the drink, “...Diet?? Ugh...Jeez, I gotta pay more attention to what I’m doing….That’s how things wound up the way they did yesterday, too…” He groaned a bit.

“...Yo, Kiri!!!” A familiar voice called from behind.

When Kirishima turned he gasped, freezing, “....What the-.... K...Kaminari and Bakugo??” The two boys were standing there, Denki was smiling and waving. After a moment, Kirishima looked at Denki, “.....Did you just call me ‘Kiri’?”

Denki frowned, “...Huh? It was Eijiro Kirishima, right??...I thought it was a pretty cute nickname!”

Kirishima was staring, “....Well, that is what a lot of my friends call me, but-“

“Great! We’re cool then!” Denki grinned, giving him a thumbs up, “...You can just call me Denki if you want!...Or Chargebolt, it’s way cooler!”

“....No ones gonna just call you by your hero name casually like that, Sparky…” Bakugo’s voice was low, he stood unmoving behind Denki.

Denki then pointed to Bakugo, “...You can call Bakubro ‘Kacchan’ if you really want to-“

Bakugo began shouting, “...What? No he can’t, you don’t get to decide that! The only nerd who gets away calling me that stupid name is fucking Deku!”

Denki looked over at his seething classmate, “...Really? I just got away with it.”

Bakugo shoved him a bit lightly, “....I’ll kill you, dumbass!”

Denki ignored him, turning to smile at Kirishima. “... Anyways Kiri, about yesterday…”

“...huh??” Kirishima stared as Denki pulled out the same Pompompurin keychain he had shown off the day prior.

Denki held the keychain close to his face, “....You were trying to be careful so that no one would find out I like Pompompurin, right??”

“...Uh, yeah!...” Kirishima put on a small, nervous smile, “...I guess in the end I didn’t really need to do that, huh?”

Denki stood tall, “...I thought so! You were a bit clumsy with it, but that made me really happy.”

Kirishima looked up at him, “...What do you mean?”

“I’m trying to say that you’re a good person!” Denki was beaming, “...You barely even know me, but you were still being really thoughtful and trying to help me!”

Kirishima’s cheeks turned pink. “...Oh, it wasn't that big a deal… That’s what any man would do.” He paused for a moment, “...Something similar happened to me once long ago, that’s all….”

“....Huh? You had something similar happen??” Denki’s shining eyes were wide.

“...Well,in my case it wasn’t specifically Pompompurin though….” Kirishima did love Pompompurin, he’d grown to like every Sanrio character, even if the obscure orange dinosaur remained his favorite.

Bakugo spoke up, he had been watching Kirishima silently for a while, “....You’re pretty familiar with Pompompurin for a guy.”

Kirishima squeaked, covering his mouth with his hand and taking a step back.

Denki’s eyes were still wide as he looked at Kirishima, and after a moment he stepped forward and leaned towards the boy, “....Does that mean…. that you actually like Sanrio characters like we do?”

The bell rang, giving Kirishima an excuse to start running off, “Oh, class is starting! See you guys!!” He shouted at them as he left.

~~~

Kirishima had changed into his pajamas, he had put his head in his hand and was sitting on the edge of his bed. He groaned softly, “...They’ve got me all figured out, I knew it…”

He paused before standing up and moving to hit his punching bag with an upset yell, “...Why am I always so careless?!?”

“...What are you doing, Eijiro?”

Kirishima yelped a bit as he turned, “...Mom, don't just come into my room!”

His mother was standing at his door, “...Well, I tried calling you to dinner, but you weren’t…. Huh?” She paused, staring at his dresser, before walking forward to pick up Eijiro’s Tiran plush, “...I haven’t seen this in a while. Where did you get it?”

“....I just found it.” Kirishima was still, looking at the ground.

His mother was smiling, “...I remember this was your favorite thing, Eijiro!”

“...Don’t say it that way, it’s not like it’s food or something like that.”

His mother chuckled, “...But I remember you would carry this with you all the time. You would fall asleep watching that Crimson Riot program holding it, you would even suck on it’s arm in your sleep.” She held it out to him, “...Do you still need it?”

Kirishima moves forward to yank the toy out of her hand, blushing, “...Mom, I’m in high school! I don’t still need it at all!” he turned to set the plush back on the dresser, “....Ok then! You said it’s dinner time, let’s go eat!”

~~~

Kirishima blew a bit on his food to cool it down, sitting alone in the noisy cafeteria. He looked up when he heard a voice, “Oh hey, a wild Kiri appeared!”

“...K...Kaminari? What are you doing here, dude?” Kirishima tilted his head a bit.

Denki sat himself across from Kirishima, “Hey, we’re bros now! You can call me by my first name, Denki!” He paused and frowned, putting on a serious face, “...You’re hurting my feelings with that attitude, by the way. Acting like you’re not excited to see me.”

Kirishima leaned forward a bit, “...Hey, don’t be that way… I’m sorry man…” 

“...Hmph!” Denki stood a bit, pointing at Kirishima with a dramatic flair, “...Then make it up to me! You should go shopping with me at the Gift Gate store after school as an apology!”

“Why would I do that?!?” Kirishima felt himself get a bit red, he was glaring at Denki lightly.

Denki was back in his seat, he was kicking his leg, “Oh come on, it’ll be fun! They’re getting new products in today!”

Kirishima crossed his legs, he began to poke a bit at his food with his utensil, “...I’m not interested in Sanrio goods, though.”

“...Heh.” Denki rested his chin on his hand, narrowing his eyes, “...How did you know what kind of stuff Gift Gate sells?”

Kirishima froze, straightening his back a bit.

Denki continued, leaning closer with a devilish grin, “...I only mentioned they were getting new products… I never said anything about Sanrio.”

“...” Kirishima let out a small panicked yell, losing his composure for a moment while Denki sat there with his same stupid smile, “...That’s not fair man… You set me up!”

Denki leaned back, putting his arms back behind his head, “...Man, that was way easier than I thought! You’re way too easy, Kirshima!” He said it with a laugh.

Kirishima was glaring at Denki, “....Well, excuse me!”

Denki kept smiling as he looked at Kirishima, “...Come on man, what’s the harm? Come with me!” He looked around for a moment before leaning forward as if to tell a secret. He began to pull something out of his pocket, “...There aren’t many guys who like Sanrio. So when girls see Pompompurin, they let their guard down when you talk to them!” Denki was now holding up his phone, which was in a yellow phone case. It’s design had Pompompurin in the middle, surrounded by delicious looking pudding, “....Chicks dig it dude! Oh yeah, I’m kinda a super popular hottie magnet!” He shut his eyes with an air of confidence. For some reason, Kirishima found his last statement hard to believe.

Kirishima narrowed his eyes, “....So you just like it for the girls??”

Denki set his phone down on the table, “...No, I’m just goofing. Mostly.”

“...Then you’re mostly serious…” Kirishima crossed his arms.

Denki stood, he was spinning with excitement, “...What I’m actually after is the super cute new Purin products!” He clasped his hands together, “My Purin collection is super cool, I just wanna make it cooler!”

The electric boy giggled. Kirishima stared at him. He was so cute but confident about himself… Sanrio made him happy but he wasn’t ashamed or scared to show it. Just how did he manage to be so unabashed about his interests when being rejected or mocked by people around you hurt so much?? Why couldn’t Kirishima be the same way?

He remembered opening up the colorful wrapping paper on the birthday that Fatgum had given him his Sanrio plush. It had sparked the same kind of joy Denki so openly displayed. Kirishima moved a hand to his heart.

“...Hey dude, are you ok?... What’s wrong?” Denki frowned, giving him a sideways look.

“...I’m not going.” Kirishima stood, his voice firm as he gave Denki a serious look. “...I don’t like Sanrio at all.

Kaminari watched as Eijiro walked away, carrying his lunch tray to dispose of it before going to class. After he was gone from his sights, Denki sighed, “...Man, I got dumped.”

“...Of course you did.” Denki turned to see Bakugo standing from his table, he had apparently been sitting at the next table listening to the two’s conversation. “...You did that on purpose.”

Denki tilted his head with a small smile, “...What’re you talking about, bro?”

“...Tch.” Bakugo crossed his arms, “...You always jump in to act without thinking, moron. Being pushy like that is just damn annoying.”

Denki shrugged, “....There’s not many people who share our interests, so I was just excited to hurry and be friends, that’s all… Don’t you feel the same way, Bakugo?” 

Bakugo shut his eyes and turned away, “...I’m not interested. Dealing with extras is a pain, I don’t need to make any more friends than the ones I already have. We’re at this school to be heroes, not to screw around.”

Denki paused, “...I see. Are you saying that you’re fine with just me?” He leaned forward with his incessant grin.

Bakugo turned a bit pink, which was a rare sight to see, “...Shut up.”

Denki leaned close to his face, “...Are you jealous, Bakugo?~~”

Bakugo pushed him away, “...Hell no!! That’s… That’s not it at all you dumbass!”

Denki laughed, “It’s alright Bakugo!! We can still be boyfriends, even if we do start talking to the super hot muscley hard guy!”

Bakugo turned to storm off, “...Jesus Christ, Denki… I hate you, stupid cute bastard.”

~~~

The engines revved, as Tenya began to stretch his legs at the starting line. He set his focus ahead, waiting for the signal to start. Soon he took off, dashing forward with the help from the boosted power of the engines in his legs. He was the fastest runner on the track team. In no time he finished the track with a new personal record.

Izuku Midoriya was among the people who were watching. He laughed a bit when Tenya crossed the finish line, pulling out his journal to scribble as he spoke aloud, "...Wow!!! I can't believe Iidas so fast, that's got to be a new record of his… those engines of his give him immense power, his speed and drive is unrivaled!!..." Mutter mutter, mutter mutter.

Soon, Iida was changing in the locker room after practice. His attention was caught by a student entering the room, clearly needing to grab something from his gym locker. Tenya spoke up, “...You’re Eijiro Kirishima, in class 1-A like me, correct?”

“...Yes??” Kirishima turned, and froze when he saw Tenya standing shirtless in front of him, “...H-huh? Class president? Tenya Iida…Um, do you need something man?”

Tenya was giving a smile, “...There's no need to be so stiff, my dear classmate!...You just had such a serious expression that I was worried.”

“...Oh...S-sorry about that man…..” Kirishima tried to return the friendly smile, “...But you don’t have to worry about me! I’m fine bro!”

“...Alright then, if you’re sure….If anything should come up though, you’re welcome to come and talk to me at any time. As class president, it’s my duty to ensure our class is doing it’s best, even emotionally.” He turned towards his locker, “...I’m probably just being unnecessarily nosey though.”

“...Oh, not at all!...” Kirishima paused for a moment, “...Thank you for checking in on me, man.”

“It’s no problem! Be safe going home now!” Tenya waved his arm a bit in a robotic manner.

Kirishima nodded before walking off.

“....Hm?” Tenya turned, hearing a soft sound. He immediately spotted a certain green haired student, who froze after trying to walk away stealthily. It was clear he’d been eavesdropping on their conversation.

“...You’re Izuku Midoriya, right?” Tenya hadn’t moved from his spot, he was giving Izuku a look.

Izuku turned his head a small bit to look back at him, “....Uhm….. yes, right… We’ve. We’ve never talked before so... It’s a bit weird that you know my name…. but. But I know I probably look weird too, just standing there while you’re having a conversation so I should probably just go now hah…”

Tenya continued to stare at the boy. 40 words had fallen out of his mouth when one would have done. “...You’re always enthusiastically observing things.”

Izuku turned red, “...Um, I… guess you could say that, um…. I was really just. Trying to kill some time…It’s. Not like I was interested in you or what you were saying…. bye!” He started to run off. 

“...Midoriya.” Iida’s voice had a way of commanding attention, it caused Midoriya to stop in his tracks again.

Deku turned. The class president seemed so serious and scary… was he mad at him? He shouldn’t have been so obvious with watching him at practice, what did he want with him now?

“....” Tenya smiled, “....You can kill time with me anytime.”

Deku blushed deeply. He hesitated a moment before running out of the locker room.

~~~

When Kirishima had been younger, he remembered walking hand in hand alongside his mentor, holding tightly onto his plush dinosaur in his other hand as the sun set behind them, “...I love you and Tiran a lot, Fatgum!”

Fatgum had given him a kind smile, “That makes me glad, kid! When you’re old enough to start training to be a great hero, I’d love to have you and Tamaki at my agency. You two are like my own sons…. There’s no one else in the entire world that I know has more potential than you two!”

…. Kirishima blinked as he woke up. It had only been a dream. He sighed, sitting up, “...Damn it, why am I having dreams like that now?” He stood to pull back the curtains, “.....The weather’s looking pretty crappy too…” It took only a few taps on his phone to see that it would rain later that day.

When he’d finished donning his school uniform, he glanced over at the Tiran plush sitting on top of his dresser, “.....I wonder if Denki will bug me today too…” He sighed a bit, patting the plush’s head, “...Damn it…. I guess it can’t be helped…”

He left the room.

~~~

When Kirishima returned home that evening, his mother greeted him. “I’m glad you made it back alright with this rain.”

Kirishima began to head to his room, “...Yeah. I managed to get back before the rain even started.”

His mother smiled, “That reminds me. I took care of the trash in your room.”

Kirishima stopped and turned, “...Mooom, I told you not to just go into my room like that!”

When he did get to his room, he threw his coat onto his bed. He began talking aloud, he’d started talking to his plush Tiran since he’d taken him out of the box, “...I wound up not running into Denki at all today… Not that it matters at all.” He smiled and turned to look at his dresser.

There was nothing on top of it.

“...Huh?” Kirishima paused for a moment before running towards his dresser, “...T-TIRAN! Where are you man?!?” He hurriedly searched around his room, bending down to check under his desk and in the trash can, tearing the blankets off his bed and looking under it. 

Having no success, he ran out of his room, “MOM!!”

She had been preparing dinner, “...Hm? What’s wrong Eijiro?”

His voice was dripping with panic, “...Mom, do you know where Tiran is?!? The orange dinosaur from my room!”

His mother set down the knife she’d been using to prepare vegetables. “...You mean the stuffed animal? You had thrown it away, so I sent it off with the recyclers.”

“...What? No way man, I didn’t throw it away!” Kirishima was holding the side of the wall, his grip tightening a bit.

She frowned, “Really? But you said you didn’t need it anymore.”

Kirishima was yelling, “That’s not what I meant!...Damn it!” He sprinted towards the door and out the house. After rushedly asking a passerby for directions, he began running.

It was dark when Kirishima caught up to the recyclers’ truck. But neither of the drivers seemed to know what had happened to his plush. They hadn’t been to his house since noon.

He stopped by a bridge when the rain began to start. He had no idea what else to do. And now he’d lost the one piece of Fatgum he’d had left…. It welled up inside him, there was a pit in his stomach. He felt himself start to tear up as he started running through the rain. “...Damn it...Damn it! Where is it…. we’ve… always been together!...It… It was a gift from a special person…”

Kirishima let out a yell as he tripped. His clothes grew wet as he fell into a puddle. He laid still on the ground as the heavy sound of the rain fell around him. It took him a moment to slowly sit up, “....Fatgum…..”

Whenever he’d tripped and fallen as a child, he remembered Fatgum would always encourage him to stand up again, “...You can do it, Riot! You’re able to do anything you put your mind to!”

Kirishima stared at the ground, “... I….. I can’t…” A tear started running down his face, “...l can’t do anything….”

He stopped. The rain was no longer pounding on his back. When he looked up, he was met with Denki Kaminari’s round, bright but concerned face. He was crouched over, holding an umbrella over the wet, mud covered crying Kirishima, “.....Whatcha doing, Eijiro?”

“...Kaminari??” He’d never seen Denki look this worried before. 

Kaminari’s smile was concerned, “...Hey, hey man…. are you alright?”

“....” Kirishima sighed and shut his eyes, “....It doesn’t matter anymore…”

“.....Huh??” Denki crouched a bit to be closer to Eijiro.

His fist tightened, “....It’s… It’s all my fault… If I was more like you, none of this would have happened.”

A deep voice spoke up from behind him, “....Don’t really get what’s going on, but having two Denkis would suck ass.”

Shit. Bakugo was here too? Not only had he lost everything important, but his two crushes were seeing him act so unmanly… But it didn’t matter anymore.

“Heyy, Kacchan, what’s that ‘sposed ta mean?” Denki was poking at Bakugo’s comment a bit.

Kirishima decided to explain, “.....I had someone I loved and something I loved… I used to be able to admit that so easily. But somewhere along the way…. saying that felt so embarrassing.” Kirishima couldn’t stop the tears that were running down his cheeks, “...I. I did something that I couldn’t take back…. I’m so fucking pathetic and miserable…. I don’t deserve to call myself a man… that’s... that’s why I could never look you in the eye, Kaminari…”

Denki was staring intently, he leaned forward a bit, “...Kirishima….”

“....How?.... How the hell can you admit you love things so easily ....And not be ashamed?!?” Kirishima’s voice was firm and loud but broken. He used his quirk to harden his hand and he punched the ground a bit aimlessly in his frustration, “...I can’t do it!! I can’t!!.... The sooner I forget about what I’ve lost… then… maybe things will get easier??...” 

There was a moment of silence aside from the rain pouring down, before Denki spoke, “....I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about, so this might seem a bit insensitive... but. What’s so wrong about admitting the things you like?...” His serious look turned into a small smile, “...I love Pompompurin. And not just Pompompurin, I love my family, my friends, hot girls, Bakugo, and you too Kirishima. I really love them all! It doesn’t make me any less ‘manly’.”

Kirishima was looking up at him, “....Denki….”

“....You know, Kiri….” Kaminari paused a moment, before throwing the umbrella to the ground and moving forward to grab Kirishima by the front of his shirt and pull him close. He was giving him an intent, serious look, “...There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in loving something!” He had a bit of a glare, before he smiled, “....So why don’t you tell me too?”

Kirishima’s eyes were wide. Denki let go of him and stood up, “....I’m not going to laugh or make fun of you, bro…. So tell me what you love.”

Kirishima was looking down at his shoes, “....I…..I….” his voice was soft, until he was overcome with the confidence to yell it out. “I!....I LOVE MY MENTOR FATGUM! I LOVE THE TIRAN PLUSH THAT FATGUM GAVE ME! I LOVE WE ARE DINOSAURS, AND THE REST OF SANRIO… I’VE LOVED IT FOR SO LONG!” He was sobbing.

Denki held out his hand, “...Then, let’s go, Kirishima.”

Kirishima was staring at him silent. He slowly put his hand out as well, and Denki took it and held it firmly.

~~~

“....I got us permission. We can look through as much of this stuff as we want, as long as we clean up after ourselves.” Bakugo’s voice was a lot calmer than usual.

The three were now standing in front of a room filled with boxes and furniture that had been thrown away and discarded. 

Kirishima turned, “...Thank you so much, man! And...thank you for your help too, Kaminari.”

Denki gave him a somewhat judging look, “You told us how desperate you are. This is the only place the recycling in your area goes. With a little checking, you could have figured that out.”

Kirishima chuckled a bit embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head.

“...Well! It doesn’t matter.” Denki rolled up his sleeves with a bit of flair, “...Let’s get searching for Kirishima’s Sanrio plush!”

Kirishima frowned, “...You guys don’t have to-“

Denki interrupted him, “It’s totally fine, bro! We’ll see this through with you!”

Kirishima smiled a bit at this kid, nodding, “...Okay!”

Soon the three boys were lifting boxes and checking behind furniture. After around 10 minutes of searching, Kirishima and Denki attempted to push and move a fridge out of the way together. Bakugo soon barked at them to get out of the way, before lifting the fridge and carrying it with an impressive and ridiculous show of skill. Denki clapped.

After around 15 more minutes, Kirishima moved one more box before stopping. A grin burst across his face and he laughed as he spotted an orange plush in the nook and cranny behind this pile of boxes. He reached his arm out and had to dig around and stretch forward to reach it. After a few moments of grabbing for it, he felt the soft fabric in his hand and started to pull it closer, “..Tiran, come here!”

He yanked it a bit hard to get it to come out, and it caused Kirishima to fall backwards, knocking over a few boxes. It caught the attention of the other two boys, who turned to see.

Kirishima laughed and held the doll close before inspecting it, “...You’ve gotten so beat up...I guess you’ve been like that for a while though.” He stood and teared up, before hugging the toy close, “...I’m sorry. I love you…”

~~~  
“You seem to be in a good mood today, Kiri!”

Kirishima grinned, “...You think so, Mina? I guess I am.”

“...I’m more worried about that than you though.” Sero pointed at Kirishima’s uniform, and at the “We Are Dinosaurs” pin attached proudly to the front.

Kirishima moved his hand to it, looking down, “...Yeah! I got this from that girl when I was hanging out with you guys the other day. Since she gave it to me, I figured I should use it-...” He stopped in the middle of his thought, “......No. That’s not it…” He looked up at Sero, “....I like it!”

Sero looked confused, “...What do you like?”

Kirishima was looking down at the pin again. Fatgum had told him he could do anything. So he had decided to start over. He would start by properly saying the things that he liked, “...I’ve kept quiet about it until now. But the truth is bros…. I like it.” His two friends tilted their heads a bit, but Kirishima smiled wide, “....I like Sanrio! And I really like We Are Dinosaurs!”

That morning, before they’d arrived at school, Kirishima had stopped by the Gift Gate Sanrio shop with Denki Kaminari and Katsuki Bakugo. He’d always wanted to enter, but never had the guts to. It was filled to the brim with Sanrio merchandise. Everywhere you turned- Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, The Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin, Badtz-Maru, Pocchaco… adorable Sanrio characters were everywhere.

“...Are we really going in, Kaminari?” Kirishima was staring with wide eyes at the entrance.

Denki made a soft sound, “...Duuuude, we’re totally bros now! You can call me something more casual than that.”

“...R-right man…” Kirshima had turned to him. 

Denki smiled, “...Course we’re going in, silly! What are you hesitating for bro, we’re already here!” He winked, “...Everything’s fine, dude! Nothing’s going to change by walking in.”

Bakugo had a smirk on his face, “...You might turn out like Sparky though.”

Denki stepped towards him, “Hey, you don’t gotta say that, Bakubro!...Come on, let’s go Kirishima!”

Kirishima looked back into the store and smiled before nodding, “...Okay then!” He started walking forward ahead of the others, standing tall as he took his first step into the store. He paused a moment, looking around, before turning back to Denki, “...You’re right. Nothing’s changed!”

“Right?” Denki walked in as well.

Kirishima found himself pulled towards all the items in the store. The biggest section at the front was filled with new Hello Kitty merchandise, she looked so cute!

Denki was squealing in the back corner that was filled to the brim with his favorite yellow dog, “Aww, Purin’s so cuuuute!”

Bakugo glared a bit, “...No. Badtz-Maru is obviously cuter.”

Kirishima shrugged, “Hey now, they’re all cute! Sanrio characters are the best!”

Denki started pulling some Pompompurin objects from the shelf, “....Right then! Let the shopping commence!


	3. Fighting Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a side note- The first two chapters were based on the first two episodes of Sanrio Boys. For this chapter however, instead of basing it on episode 3 it’s based on episode 4. I have the idea to have episode 3 play out later. Though a lot of the details from the show have changed so it really doesn’t matter all too much.

“Bakugo. What was today’s practice all about?” The two toned haired boy stepped towards Katsuki with a glare.

“...It’s your fault for being so damned cocky, Icy Hot!” Bakugo wasn’t backing down from Shoto, “Maybe if you learn to keep your fucking mouth shut, I won’t have to do that.”

Shoto growled a bit and moved forward to grab Bakugo by the shirt, “...You bastard. I didn’t even do anything wrong and you decided to blast rocks at me!”

“...That’s enough!” There was a shout from their homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa, that broke up the two boys as he approached.

Denki, who’d been watching from afar with Kirishima, sighed with relief, “....That was nice timing with the teach! I was worried Bakugo was gonna get in another fight.”

Shoto was talking back to their teacher, “....Mr. Aizawa. You saw him today……..He was getting out of control with his quirk.”

Mr. Aizawa’s icy glare was unrelenting, “...I will deal with Bakugo. Unless you want to land yourself in trouble as well, I suggest you head back to your dorm. Class is over.”

Todoroki soon walked off, he was silent and didn’t say another word. Aizawa turned his attention towards scolding Katsuki, “....You need to have more self control, Bakugo. It’s unacceptable to attack another student. You can’t let your emotions get out of hand, especially with something as childish as teasing…. You’re lucky he wasn’t hurt, otherwise we’d have to take further disciplinary actions.”

Aizawa drilled into Katsuki for a while longer, before leaving to work in the teachers lounge. Katsuki was grumbling, “...Stupid brat was askin’ for it…..”

“....Hey, Bakugo.” Denki’s voice caused Katsuki to turn as the two boys approached. “...There was a bit of a kerfuffle between you and Todoroki today, huh?”

Bakugo grunted and glared in response. 

Kirishima spoke with concern, “...What all happened, Bakugo? It sounded like he was blaming it all on you…. It’s pretty unmanly to just attack a guy like that.”

“It’s none of your business, shitty hair!” Bakugo’s temper was as explosive as his quirk. He shoved his hands into his pockets, “...It’s not gonna happen again.”

Denki smiled, “...Yeah, Bakugo! You gotta act good! What would Badtz-Maru think?”

Katsuki growled, “Badtz-Maru wouldn't give a flying fuck! He’s the type of guy with an attitude who wouldn’t care if I was a bit mean to that brat talking shit about me.”

Denki laughed, “Yeah, but I’m sure he wouldn’t want ya getting in trouble, Bakugo!”

Bakugo paused for a moment, before taking out a small charm of Badtz-Maru from his pocket. Kirishima peered over at it, “...Oh yeah, you always carry that thing around, right man?”

“...Yeah.” Bakugo was surprisingly calm, he wasn’t yelling anymore. “....Badtz here is always watching my battles and victories…” He grinned, “...I’m so great that I don’t need luck, I could never lose! But even so, he’s like a god of victory ensuring my wins.”

~~~

The next day the hero course was in groups of three, battling against each other for their training. Each group was competing in mock battles. Bakugo had been paired with Tokoyami Fumikage and, much to his dismay, Shoto Todoroki. The opposing team, consisting of Kyoka Jiro, Tsuyu Asui, and Ochaco Uraraka, was hidden somewhere in the area.

Bakugo blew up a huge boulder. He had been clearing any and all hiding places in an attempt to force his opponents to reveal themselves. 

“...Bakugo. I believe we need more of a plan for when we find them.” Tokoyami was keeping some distance from Katsuki. “...My dark shadow won’t be of much use with all the light coming from your quirk.”

“... Don’t worry about it!” Katsuki had to yell to be heard over his quirk as he blew up another rock. “I’ll handle murdering the villains! I’ll tear them to shreds! They won’t know what hit em.”

“...Bakugo, this assignment is based on teamwork. You can’t just attack without a plan.” Todoroki’s voice was so irritating to the angry blond, “... They’re no doubt ready to fight, you shouldn’t take them on on your own.”

Katsuki turned to Todoroki with a snarl, “...Are you fucking doubting me, Halfie? I’m better than anyone else in this school, got it?! Pain in my fucking ass…”

It wasn’t much later when Bakugo drew attention to himself as he slammed his gym locker shut. He’d had a serious glare and dangerously angry eyes. His team had won the challenge, making it confounding for him to be acting in such a way.

“...Hey, Bakugo-“ Todoroki was ignored, as Bakugo didn’t so much as even glance his direction before leaving the room and shutting the door.

Todoroki was staring at the door, “...The hell is his deal?...”

Tokoyami responded whilst still changing from his gym uniform, “...He seems too wrapped up with himself to care much about how his actions affect those around him… He’s being irrationally arrogant.”

~~~ 

“...Hey, Kaminari? Why is Bakugo like that?”

“...Hmm? What do you mean?” Denki turned a bit to look at his phone propped up on the kitchen counter, set on speaker as he talked to Kirishima. His hands were busy with the dinner he was attempting to make.

Kirishima was seated on his bed, “...Well, he doesn’t really get along with his teammates…. or anyone. He’s kinda cold to people, you know?”

“...Oh, that!” Denki laughed a bit, leaning on the counter.

“You guys have been friends since you were kids, right?” Kirishima was leaning against the back of his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “So, why is he-“

“Kirishima.” Denki’s voice was soft yet serious. “...Are you worried about Bakugo?”

“Of course I am!” Kirishima was shouting a bit, “I mean!.....” He paused before turning bright red, “....I’m his friend.”

“....Oh, shit…” Denki scrambled a bit to take his now burnt food off the stove, he took a pause in his conversation with Kirishima. When he’d opened a window to let some of the smoke out, he returned to his phone, “....So, uh… you wanted to know about Bakugo…” He regained himself a bit, “...Katsuki is like an angry lil penguin!”

Kirishima blinked, “...You mean. Like… Badtz-Maru?”

Denki chuckled, “Yeah, you know, his personality? He’s always actin’ like carin’ for people is a pain in the ass, like he doesn’t give a crap about anyone…. Even though in reality he does have friends that he loves. It’s ok for you to worry about him, but if you meddle too much he might explode at ya.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve all seen him blowing up like that…” Kirishima smiled softly. Even if he was being a jerk about it, Bakugo could get pretty passionate.

“That’s probably why he likes that funky little penguin so much.” Denki’s mouth was a bit full, even though he’d burnt his food he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. “It’s like a match made in heaven!”

~~~

In his own house nearby, Katsuki was wrapping up his studying for the night. His Badtz-Maru charm was sitting on his desk. He could still recall the day he’d received it.

He had been 5 years old, practicing with his then new quirk. He’d been creating sparks playing in his big yard, when his friend had called out to him, catching his attention, “...Kacchan!”

The smaller, green haired and freckled kid walked up to him with a blush, holding a small decorated box close to his chest. “....Kacchan, I have something for you!” He had said, holding the gift out with that sweet smile of his.

Katsuki didn’t try to hide his grin as he opened the box, “....It’s Badtz-Maru!!.... Heh, guess you’re not completely hopeless, Deku! You know the best gifts for the best hero!” Bakugo held his new good luck charm close as he announced his goals to his friend, “....I’m already the greatest, I know I’m never going to lose! You’ll see!”

In middle school, he had carried the charm with him hidden in his pocket. He’d won every fight and bested everyone who’d dared to get in his way. He was too strong to need luck, but his charm seemed to ensure his victory after victory.

~~~

“So, you’re telling me Bakugo got that charm from a friend?” Kirishima was staring.

“Mmhm.” Denki’s mouth was full, leaning back in his seat as he ate his lunch.

“...Wow. Bakugo must’ve really liked that boy!” Maybe Kirishima did have a chance of getting with Bakugo if he was interested in guys.

Denki swallowed his food, “...No idea, bro. That kid lives closer to Bakugo than I do, but I never knew much about their relationship. Bakugo said he hated the guy.”

“.....But he accepted and treasured a gift from him?” Kirishima was giving a sideways, skeptical look, “...I don’t know man. Who is this kid anyways?”

“I think he goes to our school.” Denki was finishing up, gathering his things and getting ready to throw away his trash. “...Anyways, no matter how he feels about the kid, he really loves that charm! It’s like it gives him luck in battles!”

“...Speaking of Bakugo. Where is he?” Kirishima glanced around the cafeteria a bit.

Denki grinned, “...He’s with Mr. Aizawa! He apparently wanted to talk to him…. I wonder what he’s in trouble for.”

“What?? That doesn’t sound good at all bro!” Kirishima’s voice had risen with his concern.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine… we really don’t wanna mess with Mr. Aizawa if he’s upset.”

~~~

“....I said I’d stop fighting, alright? I don’t see why you want me to be all buddy buddy with some damn extras I don’t care about! They’re beneath me. I could crush them all if I wanted!... I just want to be the greatest hero. Isn’t it enough for you if I just keep out of their way?” Katsuki was glaring at his teacher.

Aizawa sighed, a tired look in his eyes, “....You still don’t get it, do you?”

“...What do you mean?” Katsuki’s voice was a low growl.

~~~ 

That afternoon, Katsuki was seemingly absent from the classroom. Kirishima and Denki had been scanning the room looking for him. Denki even turned to his friend, “...Where’s Bakugo? He was here this morning, right?”

Aizawa’s voice cut through the air, addressing him as he entered the room, “...Bakugo will be sitting out from the fighting and combat training in the hero course for the next week. For the time being he’s going to do written work instead.”

This immediately brought a wave of chatter over the small room. Denki’s eyes were wide, “...What?!?”

“....There will be silence in my classroom.” Aizawa’s heightened glare brought quiet to the class. “...That is the plan…. now, we’re heading to the gym for your special move training. Don’t take long to get ready.”

When they made their way to the locker rooms, the boys were met with Bakugo inside. It was clear from the scorch marks that he’d blown up or punched his locker. He was shaking in anger and barked when they came in, “...HOW THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE CAN REMOVE ME?? I’M THE BEST FUCKIN’ FIGHTER HERE!”

“...Bakugo.” Todoroki approached him with narrowed eyes, “....Calm down...You should take the time to watch what we’re doing out there. You should pay attention to how we fight.”

“....Why don’t you PISS OFF, Halfie?” Katsuki turned to him with his hands sparking dangerously, “I’m not just gonna sit there being useless and watching everyone else fucking participate! DAMN IT!”

“Ba-Bakugo! Please! Stop yelling!” Kirishima walked towards him, trying to separate him from Todoroki.

Bakugo’s only response was to shove Kirishima out of the way and to storm out of the room.

~~~

Despite the loud scraping of rock Kirishima was used to honing his moves during practice, as well as the shouts and efforts of those strengthening the use of their quirks around him, the gym seemed oddly quiet. Kirishima’s focus couldn’t help but waver from the task at hand.

“....Man, there used to be a lot more screaming during practice until now, huh?” Denki was working near Kirishima, speaking only in between letting out discharges of electricity to better his quirk. He was yelling louder than he had to, “...I feel like we should make up for the lack of noise in some way. Maybe we should have a yelling competition!”

“...Not now, Denki…” Kirishima tried to turn his focus back to hardening his body and landing powerful hits. “...I don’t wanna focus on our man not being here…”

“....Bakugo wasn’t in any of the classes this morning either, right?” The unexpected voice caused Denki and Kirishima to look up.

“...Todoroki.” Denki paused his attack to address him, “...Yeah, I’m pretty sure he was absent. You know how seriously Bakugo takes these sorts of things… And how much he wants to win. He doesn’t even care about anyone else getting in his way.” His tone was more serious than it’d been seconds earlier.

There was a sigh as their teacher approached the group. “....You three aren’t working.”

Kirishima stood up straight, “...S-sorry Mr. Aizawa!!”

“....” Shota gazed at them for a moment before commenting on their conversation, “...You’re all clearly worried about Bakugo…. You are his friends, after all. But it’s precisely because of that drive of his that I’m having him stay out of the combat training.”

“....What do you mean?” Denki frowned.

Aizawa shut his tired eyes for a moment, “...Listen carefully. I’m only going to explain this to you kids once.”

~~~

The orange clouds illuminating the sky hung over Katsuki’s head as he stormed forward, growling at the ground below. “...I don’t get it. What the hell? I……I’m….” The looks from his classmates as he raged in the locker room, the words from his teacher, the reality of not being able to participate like he was being treated as some sort of villain, his thoughts made him break into a run. “...How the hell am I supposed to be a hero if I’m just treated like some criminal!?!”

Katsuki stopped. He found himself at a bridge. The river below was reflecting the golden sky above. The water was clearer than his state of mind as he moved to pull his Badtz-Maru charm from his pocket. He stared at as he shook slightly. “....Some….Some……...Some good luck charm you are!” He drew back his arm to toss it into the waters below.

“KATSUKI NO!!!” There was a sudden loud shout from seemingly nowhere as Kirishima ran towards and tackled Katsuki into an embrace, holding him tightly while panting out of breath. 

Startled, Bakugo froze staring wide eyed at his red haired friend, “...You…” 

Kirishima took a moment to catch his breath, before moving his hands to his chest and looking him in the eyes, “....Don’t do it….You can’t…. throw that away!...”

Bakugo pushed Kirishima away from him, before having his attention caught by Kaminari, who’d followed behind Kirishima, “...Mr. Aizawa wanted us to help.”

Bakugo was staring between Denki and Eijiro, bewildered by the both of them. What were they doing here?

Denki grinned a bit, “...Bakugo. Let’s fight. For practice.”

“...What?” Bakugo’s confusion was masked by his sinister voice.

Katsuki soon found himself watching Kirishima and Denki fight. His arms were crossed and his eyes were following the two as they moved. Denki was sending shocks Kirishima’s way, while Kirishima had hardened his body and was trying to land attacks on his foe.

After a while of fighting in this way, one of Kirishima’s attacks missed, and it caused him to stumble a bit. Eijiro fell to the ground before laughing a bit, “....Ack….my bad…”

Bakugo felt his eyes narrow as he started to shout out, “....You idiot! That wouldn’t have happened if you just payed attention and watched where you were….” he stopped. 

What he was saying reminded him of what he’d heard earlier from Todoroki. “You should pay attention to how we fight.”

Bakugo’s silence had caused the other two boys to stop. Denki was looking over, “...What is it Kacchan?”

“...” Katsuki was staring at the ground, “....That’s it, isn’t it?.... I wasn’t paying attention... and I didn’t see…”

“...” Denki smiled as he approached the spikey blonde. “...You know, that Todoroki’s really cool.” 

Bakugo was giving Denki a glare, his threatening voice was deep, “....You shut the fuck up about him…” 

Denki shook his head, “....I’m being serious, Bakugo. Not only has he honed his super cool quirks, he’s one of the most skilled fighters in the school. But he also was paying attention to everyone around him… and he noticed how your attitude’s been holding you back.”

Though he’d usually argue with someone regarding his pride, Bakugo was silent. Denki was right. He really wasn’t paying as much attention as he could. Being an ass was only getting in his own way of being the greatest hero.

Denki moved a hand forward, holding onto the front of Katsuki’s shirt and looking at him in the eye. “...When we talked to Todoroki, it was obvious that he wanted to help you…. Even someone as great as him can see how strong you can be, Katsuki… I mean. With your skill, I think everyone’s noticed. Todoroki, me, Kiri, the teach… I think we all know you can crush any opponent and win.” Denki let go of Bakugo’s shirt, his hand forming a fist before lightly placing it on his chest, “.....You’re going to accept everyone’s feelings, right?” Denki’s smile was warm, his gaze on Bakugo unwavering.

Bakugo broke his eye contact by looking away through, “....Everyone’s feelings and expectations like that are a pain in the ass…”

Denki frowned, “...Come on now…The teach was talking ‘bout how he wanted to see you succeed and stuff. This is all only for a week, and-“

Kirishima spoke up, interrupting Denki. “......Hey, Bakugo?....Why are you running away?”

The boys turned to Kirishima. Bakugo gave the smallest grin, “....Running away?....The hell’s that ‘sposed ta mean? I just don’t like annoying-“

“Kirishima’s right, Kats.” Denki’s gaze was once again captured on Bakugo, “...You’ve been running away ever since that day.”

When Bakugo realized what he was talking about, he turned red and took a step back, “....I...I…. You don’t know what happened that day!”

Kirishima was staring a bit at the two, quiet for a moment, “.....What day are you talking about, Bakugo?... Something must’ve happened if it caused you to change.”

Denki was giving Bakugo a soft look, “...You should tell us what happened.”

Bakugo was avoiding their looks, staring at the ground upset. It took him a while of mulling it over to speak, “......It was that damn nerd… he was always so cheerful and optimistic….Setting unrealistic goals. It really pissed me off. But what really pissed me off was when he was told by the doctor that he’d never develop a quirk. But for some reason…. He still wanted to be a hero. It was like he was in denial….” Bakugo clenched his fists a bit before looking up, “....That delusional moron was always saying things he couldn’t possibly live up to… If you want to be a hero you have to put effort into becoming the best… And you have to have a good quirk to do that. I started pushing myself towards that. A hero can’t be unrealistic. And I’m gonna make my chances of becoming the greatest even better by crushing every single one of my enemies!”

“....Bakugo….” Kirishima’s voice was soft. Despite not knowing much about the full story, he could see how it had affected Bakugo so much.

Bakugo continued, “.....At practice. I didn’t realize… I wanted to win and destroy all my opponents, not giving a shit about anyone else…. But a hero has to pay attention to others. To learn their strategies and find out what they need… Otherwise I could just be in their way….” He moved a bit to pull out his Badtz-Maru charm and look at it for a moment, “.....This was a gift from him. He was just an insignificant bug I could crush… But then the teach said I have to sit out, and it made me feel weak…. That made me want to throw this out. Because… I was as weak as those unrealistic dreams that stupid Deku always held onto…” He shut his eyes, “....I’m just….I’m just….”

“....You’re a strong person.” Kirishima was giving him a small smile, “....I always thought you were kind of a scary, careless jerk…. But I was totally wrong. You’re so dedicated to being the best, you put so much thought and work into it so you can be stronger…. That’s really manly, dude.” 

Bakugo looked away from him, “...No, I fucked up and was only making things worse for other people…”

“...But that was because you were trying so hard to reach the top, right?... You’ve recognized where you’ve messed up, and you can use that to change and adjust so you can really become the greatest.”

“....Kirishima is right.” Denki stepped forward a bit, “....I never really noticed… You try really hard. That must mean you really care about people, Bakugo. Because heroes protect people, and fight for them…. I’m sorry I didn’t see that before.”

After a moment, Bakugo gave a small chuckle, before turning away a bit, “.......You idiots…”

Denki moved to walk in front of him, “....Awww, Kacchan learned a valuable lesson!”

Bakugo avoided his gaze, “.... Shush up. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it…”

The other two boys were smiling, despite Katsuki being as snappy and aggressive as he was, they were glad to have him back to his normal self.

~~~

When Bakugo walked into the locker room the next day, everyone turned to stare at him as he walked to his locker. Not a word was said as he began to change with his back turned to the rest of the room, yet all eyes were watching him. The silence hung over the air for several moments. 

Once he was finished changing, however, Katsuki turned to face Todoroki, “.... Please look after me.” It was a simple request, yet it had grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. Bakugo glanced at all the widened eyes, “....The fuck are you staring at?”

Todoroki had surprise written on his face as well, “...What’s with you all of the sudden?... That came out of nowhere.”

Bakugo turned a bit red, “....I just. Don’t want to get in your way anymore, alright Icyhot?!?”

“.....” Todoroki stared at him for a moment before he gave a small giggle, “............Alright, Bakugo….”

Bakugo’s face was even redder than before. He’d normally shout at anyone who’d dare laugh at him, though in that moment he simply turned away before leaving the room after a moment.

~~~

The week passed fast, and soon Kirishima, Bakugo and Kaminari found themselves walking together after class.

Kirishima’s walk was full of energy, “...I’m so glad you were finally able to train with us again today, Bakugo!”

Bakugo huffed softly, “...Yeah.”

Denki leaned towards Bakugo, “... Huh? Where’s my thanks for helping you??”

Bakugo shot him a glare, “...Why would I say that now?”

Denki’s grin was sly, “...Nevermind me, what about Kirishima’s thank you?”

Bakugo made a soft sound before turning to look at Kirishima. Eijiro’s eyes shone brightly as he beamed at Bakugo for a few moments, causing Bakugo to look away with his cheeks growing red, “....t…..thank you Kirishima….” His soft voice was barely heard.

Kirishima bubbled with excitement, “...Hey! Did you just use my name instead of saying ‘Shitty Hair?!’”

Bakugo was shouting, “...N-...No! I was just following suit with Sparky!! Shut up!”

Kirishima laughed a bit as he turned to Kaminari, “....You hear that Denki?? He called me Kirishima!”

Bakugo stomped forward ahead of the two, grumbling and swearing to himself in an attempt to ignore the other boys in their delight.


	4. A Broken Relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where Izuku and Tenya start getting more involved! Side note- Izuku is a bit of a jerk so I don’t blame you if you wanna yell at him.

“Hey! That new Hello Kitty folder ya got is super cool! Is it new?? Did they have any for Pompompurin??” Denki’s voice was a bit loud in comparison to the rest of the library. It was drawing the attention of Izuku Midoriya, who'd been browsing books in the hero section. The messy green haired student had picked out a few books about All Might before he’d looked over at his classmates talking, huffing a bit under his breath.

It seemed that none of the boys had noticed him, as Kirishima was continuing their conversation, “....Yeah! There were a few other characters there too. Since, you know, I did get it at the Sanrio store.”

Denki grinned, “Kirishimaaaa! You finally managed to go there by yourself! I’m proud of you, man!”

Kirishima turned towards Bakugo, “...Hey, if I go back and find a Badtz-Maru one, do you want it?”

Bakugo was frowning with an angry face that seemed to be his default, “....Of course I do.”

“....What a shame….” There were a few soft murmurs from other kids in the library. They caught the attention of Izuku, who turned to look at a few staring students, “....They’re really strong fighters and are sure to become pro, but their interests are pretty girly… Makes them seem like they’re kind of freaks....”

“.....” Izuku paused for a moment, before moving to approach the table. He was staring at the ground quiet.

The table fell silent as the boys looked up at Izuku, a hint of confusion in the air. Kirishima spoke up after a moment, “....What is it??”

“........Aren’t you guys ashamed of yourselves at all??” Midoriya asked it without even looking up.

There was a soft noise from Kirishima.

Denki tilted his head, “....Um, about what?”

“....Be. Because!” Izuku had a bit of a blush on his face. “....You’re. I-I mean, you’re a bunch of guys sitting around talking about...Girly and childish things....” It was apparent through his stutter that the boy was nervous, though his voice was slowly developing a more firm tone, “...That’s…. Why I asked if you’re ashamed at all….Is. Isn’t it weird to like those sort of things in highschool??....People think you’re _gross.”_

“....” Kirishima found himself looking down towards the wooden table, his brow furrowed in thought. It was clear that Midoriya was right regarding the shame he still felt and was learning to overcome.

 _**“....Oi. Shitty fucking nerd…”**_ the threatening growl from Katsuki caught Izuku offguard. Bakugo was standing up, moving to grab Deku by the front of his shirt as the now startled green haired boy tried to step back, his eyes widened in fear and regret for having said what he just said.

Katsuki leaned in close towards his face with a menacing glare and anger dripping in his voice, “....You listen here, _Deku_... Don’t think I haven’t noticed you looking down on me…You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you?!?.... Well I don’t give a shit what you think about me…. but now you’re saying these things about hair for brains and Pikachu too, aren’t you??”

Kaminari stood, his voice low in an attempt to grab Katsuki’s attention, “....Hey, Bakugo-“

“I’m not gonna ignore you shitting on my friends, you got that Deku?!?” Katsuki started yelling, ignoring Denki completely as he yanked Midoriya closer, “..The hell is wrong with us liking Sanrio stuff?!? We can like whatever the fuck we want!!”

“Ba-Bakugo, knock it off…” There was increasing worry in Denki’s voice, though he remained unacknowledged. 

Deku was shaking, though he refused to back down from Bakugo, “.....E-Even if you try to threaten me about it Kacchan…. You’re. You’re all still acting like creeps!”

“Oh, I’m a creep?? That’s rich coming from a fucking stalker!” Bakugo snarled, “You fucking asking for a fight, Deku??” Katsuki moved a hand back, which began to spark wildly and caused Deku to flinch.

“....Wait!!” A stern, loud shout was heard as Katsuki felt a hand on his arm, holding him back. Katsuki grew still, turning to look over his shoulder at the one who had stopped him, Tenya Iida. 

“...” The class president had a serious look as he moved to pull a reluctant Kacchan away from Izuku, “.... I don’t know what’s happened, but you shouldn’t resort to violence…. Calm down.”

“...” Katsuki was silent for a moment, glaring daggers at Tenya with enraged, red eyes. Then the explosive boy tore his hand away from Iida’s grip, “....Fine… whatever...”

Izuku was red faced and worriedly staring at the ground, though his frown was still upset.

Katsuki had turned his attention back to Izuku, “..........You should watch what you say… if you don’t want me to beat your sorry ass…”

“...............Shut up, Kacchan!” Izuku moved to run past a somehow even more infuriated Bakugo, though he was stopped quickly when Iida grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey!-“ Tenya paused for a moment, as Izuku turned with a nervous, blushing glance. Midoriya soon interrupted the pause though, as he yanked his arm away from Iida and ran out of the library.

~~

Izuku was grumbling softly to himself as he was walking out the UA building towards his home the moment school had been let out the next day. He had a tendency to mutter his words aloud when he was in deep thought, and was currently muttering about the boys he’d confronted the previous day. Izuku was not a very hateful child, though Katsuki Bakugo had always gotten him worked up. His own emotions about his childhood friend were confused and muddled. He’d always felt a great sense of admiration towards Bakugo, despite the countless number of times the explosie kid had yelled at, hurt or made fun of him… though something about Katsuki talking cheerfully about Sanrio to his friends had struck a nerve with Izuku.

“....Midoriya…. Izuku Midoriya!!” A shout from behind interrupted Izuku’s thoughts, he stopped and turned to see the class president Tenya Iida running up to him. He seemed to have just finished running the school track, and was still in his training uniform.

Tenya stopped when he reached Deku, “....I heard the rest about what happened yesterday from Kaminari and the others.”

“...” Izuku turned to look towards the ground with a frown, “....Are... you going to lecture me about it?”

“....” The still expression on Tenya’s face was unreadable. “...I want to ask you something…. My quirk training for the day just finished up… Do you mind waiting here for a moment?”

Izuku didn’t answer, and Tenya didn’t wait long for him to respond. “....I’m counting on you.” Iida gave a small smile as he turned towards the school’s locker rooms and left Izuku standing alone.

Midoriya stared at the building where Iida had disappeared into for more than a few moments. He was quiet for a long while waiting patiently for the class president to return, before he stopped and began muttering aloud to himself softly, “...........Why am I actually waiting here like he asked??....” After all, Tenya was likely upset at him for shouting and behaving rudely to Kacchan and his friends. He probably was just going to reprimand Izuku for doing so. That wasn’t something Midoriya was in the mood for. There was no overwhelming need for Izuku to stay... Though yes, he could very well get in trouble if he just left, in that moment he didn’t have the heart to confront the actual problem.

“....Midoriya!” Tenya called out for the messy haired student as he stepped out from the locker room building, now dressed in casual but still formal seeming attire. Yet he was only greeted with silence, a careful scan of the area showed that Izuku was nowhere to be found.

Tenya let out a small sigh. Perhaps he shouldn’t have expected anything more, he did hardly know the boy. But he had felt a small hope in his heart that Izuku would have trusted him enough to stick around. He began walking towards his home then, since there was no reason to stay now.

At least until he accidentally bumped into another student who was thrown off guard with the slightest tumble. The kid regained his balance quickly, and immediately turned to shout at Iida, “...Oi, watch where you’re going you fucking-!!.....” he stopped.

Tenya stood up and moved to immediately help his riled up classmate, “My apologies!! I didn’t see you there!!......Oh, it’s you! From yesterday…. Katsuki Bakugo, yes?”

“.......Yeah…” Katsuki’s voice was still a low growl, though his explosive anger seemed not to linger quite as much, staring at Iida with narrowed serious eyes. “.....you know your stuff, huh?”

“....It’s merely the duty of the class president to be on top of these sorts of things…” Tenya took a step back, giving Bakugo more space. There was a short decisive pause before he spoke again, “....I saw Midoriya a short time ago, but I was unable to talk to him… I figured I’d try again later.”

Katsuki made a soft tsk sound. He turned and stood slouched as if he couldn’t care less about the conversation at hand, but he was looking over at Tenya, not breaking eye contact, “....Don’t bother yourself with that nerd… He’s always had problems with being an annoying brat. Always used to hang around me as a kid…. I can handle it if that fucking moron wants to try to threaten me, don’t think I need your help!”

“....” Tenya was frowning, “...The issue isn’t going to be resolved with more fighting between you two…. I believe I should get myself involved.”

“...You’re a really meddlesome person, aren’tcha?” Katsuki’s voice had raised a bit with annoyance.

“...” Iida paused a moment before shutting his eyes with the smallest smile, “....I have been told that a lot.”

“...That’s not supposed to be a good thing.” Katsuki turned to look away with a slight glour on his face, “...I said I don’t need your fuckin’ help… Don’t think I get all angry just cuz he’s actin’ all upset ‘bout the things we like, I could care less what that useless nobody thinks…”

“...Yes, Midoriya should not have been saying those types of things to you guys…. Even so, Bakugo, creating a ruckus in the library like that is very irresponsible! As UA students we should be aiming for more appropriate behavior towards our peers!” Tenya waved his arm about in a passionate fashion. 

Bakugo had begun walking, seemingly having lost interest in continuing the conversation any further, “..... Yeah, whatever…… Seriously though, I’m not asking for your help. I don’t care and I’m sure the others don’t either!!”

~~

“WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT GUY?!?” Denki Kaminari was crying out as he scarfed down his food in anger, eating so fast it was a miracle he hadn’t choked yet, “Even though he’s totally cuter and has a face more suited for Sanrio merch than we do!” He soon slammed his empty bowl down on the table with a huff. 

“....Deku is not fucking cute, Sparky….” Katsuki was shouting a bit, “... You shouldn’t get so fuckin’ angry over small shit like this.”

“....Says you!!” Denki shot Katsuki an exasperated look, “I don’t see why the hell you aren’t so worked up about this! That guy was talking some serious shit about me and my friends, the people I care about dude!”

Bakugo groaned a bit, sitting back in his chair, “....It doesn’t fuckin’ matter what that damn nerd thinks about us, Denki…”

Kaminari turned to give his upset look to Kirishima, “....What about you, man?!?”

“.......” Kirishima grew a bit red and looked away from Denki’s eyes, “.....I am upset! I’m just. I don’t feel that confident confronting him about it!!...” After a moment the redhead hung his head down in shame of himself, “...I know that doesn’t sound very manly… but. When that Midoriya guy was saying all that stuff I kinda thought he was right…”

Denki moved to put his hands on Eijiro’s shoulders and looked at him directly, “...Don’t take anything he said seriously. I mean, everyone has different interests, it feels so wrong for him to just crap on us for that!”

“....That loud pretentious class president said about the same thing…” Katsuki was still eating, giving his input though maintaining the air of being disinterested in the conversation.

Denki stopped shouting quite as loud as he had been yelling previously, “....Oh, did you talk to the class president??... Nice! I wanna be friends with that dude.”

Kirishima glanced over at him, “...you wanna be bros with the president?”

Denki was grinning, “Yeah, think of how handy that would be if you ended up in trouble! The dude could offer some real perks if you were on his good side.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes, “...You idiot, he’s clearly not that kind of person… He has a stick shoved so far up his ass that even if you were his friend he’d still sell you out to the teachers for breaking the smallest fuckin’ rule.”

Denki sighed, “...I guess he does seem pretty stiff.”

Kirishima smiled a bit, staring at Kaminari, “...Yeah, I’m sure he seems pretty stiff, especially to someone like you, Denki.” He moved to take a bite of his food innocently.

Denki’s eyebrow twitched as he shot Eijiro a glare, “....Kiri, you’ve got some nerve… you cheeky jerk!”

Denki moved to start playfully tickling his friend’s stomach relentlessly, causing Kirishima to start laughing and squirming about, “...KA- KAMINARI STOP, I'M GONNA SPILL MY FOOOOD!”

Bakugo continued to talk in his serious yet loud tone of voice, ignoring the kerfuffle between his two peers taking place before him, “.....Yeah, foureyes was trying to settle the shit between us and that annoying Deku from yesterday…. as if we needed his stupid help.”

The boys stopped, freezing a bit in an awkward position where Kaminari was leaning over Kirishima. Their messy hair was riled up slightly, and Eijiro had grabbed Denki’s wrists in an attempt to make him cease the tickling. Both were looking over at Bakugo. “...Is that so??” Kirishima asked.

Denki moved away from Eijiro, returning to his relaxed position leaned back in his own seat, “....I kind of feel bad about that…… I guess it went a little too far, huh…”

Kirishima was staring at the soft haired electric student, “....Kaminari, deep down, you’re too sweet.” Kirishima then moved to place a small nugget of his crispy, golden fried chicken on Denki’s plate.

Kaminari’s eyes went wide, “Oh!.....Can I have it?”

Kirishima nodded, “Yup.”

Bakugo grumbled something before shoving his plate forward, “....I’m done. You can have the rest of mine too, Sparky…”

There was a giddiness in his voice as Denki as stood a bit quickly and moved to pull the plate closer, “Lucky me!”

~~~ 

“...Hey! Is Izuku Midoriya in here??”

There was no answer as the kids inside the classroom continued their conversations amongst themselves, the freckled mess of green hair was nowhere to be found. Thus the student turned back to Tenya, “...Sorry, I don’t think he’s here at this moment.”

Tenya nodded, “...I see, thank you.” He turned and began walking back down the crowded hall, past the bustling students.

Denki was humming a cheerful tune to himself as he marched ahead of his two friends.

“....You know Sparky, you’re pretty cheap if all it takes to cheer you up is some leftover fried chicken.” Bakugo had a sort of bemused look on his face watching Kaminari.

Kirishima was grinning, “...I know, if you’re ever feeling down bro, Kat and I can just give you some fried chicken ta make you feel better!”

“That’s not why I’m feeling cheerful at all!!” Denki’s shout was defensive in tone, though he retained his relaxed smile. “...I just realized that I can’t hold a grudge against that dude forever, you know??”

Bakugo still had a small smirk on his face, “...You realized that cuza the fried chicken we gave ya, huh?”

Denki shrugged, “.......Ok, I’m not gonna say the free food DIDN’T make me happy.... But I’m a big, mature kid! When I get giddy it’s for real reasons, I swear!....Huh??”

The three boys came to a stop, as a little ways in front of them a student with messy green hair balancing a large stack of books had exited a classroom.

Denki’s face lit up, “...Hey, perfect timing!!” Without a second thought he ran towards the kid.

Bakugo’s grin was gone, “...Oi! Sparky! Don’t!”

Kaminari turned for just a moment to shout back, “Don’t worry, bro!! I’m just gonna show him my mature side!!”

At that moment, the book on top of Deku’s stack began to fall. The bold illustration with All Might on the front began to tumble to the ground. And Kaminari was there to catch it. The electric boy ran in front of Midoriya to hold out the book proudly, a friendly smile wide across his face, “...You dropped this!” Kaminari sat the book on top of the pile gently.

Izuku’s eyes were wide with surprise, though his eyebrows were tense and upset. His expression was flared up in slight disgust, and he took a step back.

Denki moved towards him a bit, “...There’s no need to be so on guard about it bro, I’m not mad at you anymore!....You know, those books look heavy, let me help you!”

When Kaminari approached, Izuku took another step backwards, “...I don’t want any help from a freak like you!”

Denki immediately froze up with a small gasp. He stood unmoving, even as Izuku moved to walk past him. 

It took a few moments to Denki to react at all, by the time he broke his still stance Izuku had disappeared down the next hall around the corner. Kaminari erupted into a shout, stomping his foot and yelling out in anger, “...WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM!?!?!?”

Bakugo stood unfazed, “....Looks like Sparky’s back to bein’ upset.”

“...” Kirishima gave Bakugo a nervous glance, “...Should we go get more fried chicken?”

Bakugo was focusing his gaze on the corner that Izuku had disappeared around, “... Deku really seems to hate us though…”

“....” There was a small pause as Kirishima thought, “...Maybe he’s really just hating on himself rather than just hating us…”

That comment made Denki turn to look at Eijiro, face scrunched in confusion, “....What makes you say that??”

“....” Kirishima was looking towards the ground, “...Cuz that’s the way I felt just until a while ago... Like something was irritating me deep down…”

~~~

Izuku had paused to watch the other students in their training. They had been lifting huge weights with their roaring muscles. It was making Izuku look down at his own arms to consider his strength, he definitely had gotten a lot stronger than he had been in middle school. Training under the greatest hero in Japan with his rigor and determination had certainly given him a lot more muscle.

Izuku was knocked out of his thoughts with a shove from one of the students passing by. The student was talking with a small group of his friends, they all seemed to be from 1B. They paid Izuku no mind and just continued to walk down the hall, their laughs loud in the corridor.

“...You three there, wait!” The voice was authoritative, and Izuku turned a bit to see Tenya Iida approaching from behind.

The students from 1B froze and turned towards Tenya, confused. The particular student who had shoved Midoriya had styled blond hair, and was staring at Iida with piercing blue eyes. He huffed with a bit of an arrogant air, “....Oh, it’s just the president from that lousy class 1A…”

Tenya was approaching the group, “...It’s rude to bump into someone and then keep going without saying anything!... You should apologize when you shove someone like that!”

“...Tsk. I don’t have to apologize to the likes of your pathetic class…” The brash student laughed a bit coldly.

One of his friends, a tough looking student with grey hair, stepped towards the blond, “Monoma!! The dude is right, just apologize!!”

There was soft bickering between the two for a moment, until Monoma eventually sighed, “.....Fine! _Sorry....”_ The apology sounded short and insincere, but the group soon turned and continued walking down through the halls.

Izuku shifted a bit awkwardly, looking down for a moment. He softly murmured, “...Thank you…” to Iida. 

“....I was just doing the right thing as my duty as class representative...” He turned to face Izuku, “...You should also do the right thing and apologize for blowing up at Bakugo and the others in the library the other day.”

Izuku made a soft sound, looking away with guilt.

“....Why didn’t you wait for me when I asked?” Tenya’s question was direct. 

“I….” Izuku faltered for a moment to come up with a good answer, “....I don’t have to do everything you say… I’m not gonna just wait for you because you said so.”

“...That’s just an excuse. If you didn’t want to wait, you could’ve told me right then and there. Don’t you think it’s rude to leave a classmate waiting like that?” Tenya was still, waiting for an actual answer from his classmate. 

“...T-That’s…” Izuku was stuttering, not able to actually finish that thought. It was undeniable that how he’d been acting towards everyone was rather rude.

 _“....That’s??”_ Tenya’s tone was stern, his gaze drilling into Izuku.

Midoriya gulped, stepping back nervously. He was quiet for a long moment, before tearing up, “...I’m sorry about that, Iida…”

“...” Tenya’s serious look turned into a smile, “...That’s good!... You should apologize whenever you’re in the wrong.”

Izuku looked up, confused at the sudden change in Tenya. He was right, apologizing did make him feel a bit better. With that guilt gone he moved to wipe his tears.

“...I will get straight to the point then. Why did you get so upset at those boys in the library the other day? They had told me that you got in a fight with them over their interests, but will you tell me your side of the story?” Tenya’s tone was now patient with Midoriya.

“...There’s no need to.” Izuku sighed softly, “...I’ll just go apologize to them later.”

“...No, that’s not enough.” Tenya was frowning. “....That might resolve the problem for the other boys, but it’s not going to resolve things for you.”

Izuku blinked, perplexed, “...Why… Why do you care if things get resolved for me though? It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“It does! You’re a student here, and I’m the representative of our class. Moreover, I care about the wellbeing of all our classmates. I care about you. If there’s a problem that you’re having, then it’s my duty to help.” Tenya was staring intently at the boy.

Izuku huffed softly and closed his eyes, “....You’re way too serious.”

“....I’ve been often told that. There might be something I can help with… Will you talk to me?” Tenya asked.

Izuku turned to walk away, “...You don’t have to worry about me… Go help the people that are closer to you, Iida.”

“...Don’t avoid this, Midoriya!” Tenya moved swiftly to grab Izuku’s arm, stopping him in his tracks, “...People will only be honest with you when you’re honest with them!”

Tenya turned a stunned Midoriya to face him. Deku’s face was flushed and red, now suddenly very close to Tenya’s.

Tenya was looking him in the eye, before asking him again, “....Will you talk to me?... Or won’t you?”

~~~

“...Ever since I was younger, I feel like I was always looked down upon… I wasn’t exactly the strongest, and… my quirk developed quite late…” Izuku was not going to mention that he was technically quirkless until shortly before the UA entrance exams to Tenya, that was one of the secrets he wasn’t going to share. Izuku shifted a bit, looking down at the desk in front of him. “..Then there was Kacchan… he was always so strong and impressive!!!... Even if he yelled at me or pushed me around, I always kept following him… I wanted to see how he would grow.”

“...I see… Then you’ve had a long history with Bakugo then, right?” Tenya asked.

Izuku nodded, “...Yeah… He and I used to be really close actually…” There was a small smile on his face as he reminisced, “...I remember how much he loved Sanrio when we were really little. And… If I’m being honest… I really loved it too…” Izuku was blushing.

“...Really?” Tenya’s eyes were wide, it was unexpected with Izuku’s behavior towards the Sanrio boys.

“...Yeah… Kacchan was a lot friendlier to me when we were really little, especially before he got his quirk… I remember we would always play, and we had collected a lot of hero stuff… We also got a lot of Sanrio stuff too. He was a lot more open about how much he liked it then. But then something kind of changed in him when we got into school…” Izuku frowned, “...People had started noticing how impressive his quirk was. And Kacchan seemed to get a lot meaner. And he started hating that kind of stuff… He had gotten a lot more violent towards me in general, but whenever he saw me liking Sanrio stuff, he started to get really upset about it….like it was girly and childish for someone to like it.”

“....He seems to be a lot more open about liking it now though, isn’t he?” Tenya was deep in thought, “...I wonder why he had the change in heart?”

“....I don’t know, but it really annoys me…” Izuku had started to grumble a bit, “....That’s why when I see him now, hanging out with those guys and loudly talking about how he likes Sanrio, it makes me… so upset!!” He made an irritated sound, tensing up a bit, “...He’s a hypocrite who likes the same things he made fun of me for liking.... Except I don’t like that kind of childish stuff anymore… And he shouldn’t either. He was always so vocal about how stupid it is. I feel like none of them should be being so open about liking it...”

“....You shouldn’t be placing the blame on the others for the things they like, Midoriya… I understand how you feel towards Bakugo must be complicated, but it doesn’t justify such an outburst.” Tenya reasoned.

“...I know, it just… He makes me so upset sometimes…” Izuku’s voice was a soft whine.

Iida was sitting tall, “....Midoriya. I believe you have to face yourself properly.”

Midoriya looked up, his eyebrows creased in confusion, “....What does that mean?...I told you what the problem was already…”

“...Midoriya, I told you not to avoid the issue at hand. Please, listen to me…” After a slight pause, Tenya repeated what he had said, “You need to face yourself properly… This all has to do with how you are feeling. You have to come to terms with it… And I believe you should talk to Bakugo about your feelings as well.”

“...” Izuku took a moment to process Tenya’s words. He sighed, “...You’re probably right…”

“.....Alright then.” Tenya gave Midoriya a smile and stood up from his seat, “...Then, tomorrow, I will go with you so you can apologize and talk to Bakugo and the others.”

Izuku had stood up as well, he had begun to smile looking at Tenya. Talking to him about his feelings seemed to have been therapeutic. Knowing Tenya would be by his side tomorrow was reassuring, “...Got it!”

“...Oh, right…” Tenya pulled out his phone, “....Feel free to consult me if anything ever comes up again. I’m always willing to talk to you, Midoriya.”

Izuku blushed, moving to pull out his own phone with a bright All Might design adorning the case, “...Calling can be a bit troublesome… but maybe we could start texting each other!”

“...I see, very well then.” Tenya was moving to add Midoriya to his contact list.

“...Thank you… It means a lot to me, Iida.” Midoriya’s voice was soft as the two exchanged their numbers.

~~~

“....Oh, Izuku honey, you’re home!” Inko looked up from the couch when her son entered through the front door, “...Come look, I found some old photos from when you were younger!”

“...Hi mom.” Izuku moved over to the couch besides her to look over at the old, leather bound book she held. Inside there were many memories from when he was younger. Kacchan was in several of them, like in a Halloween costume dressed in matching All Might costumes with Midoriya, or playing alongside him in a sandbox. In the center of the page there was a photograph of Izuku proudly hugging a soft, plump Pochacco plush. It’s white fur shone brightly against it’s dark ears in the sunlight. The smile on Izuku’s face was wide.

“...You used to love that dog so much, Izuku… It was cute.” Inko’s voice was fond, “...You haven’t bought anything with him as of late, have you?”

Izuku blushed, “...M-Mom, that’s because I’m in highschool now… I’m too big for that kind of thing!”

She was looking over at him, “....Are you sure? You never grew out of your other interests like All Might, you know… I remember it used to make you so happy.”

Izuku stood, “...liking All Might and heroes isn’t the same thing as liking a children’s character, mom…”

“....Alright then, if you’re sure…” His mother went back to flipping through the photo album. 

Izuku made his way to his room, shutting the door behind him with a sigh. Filled head to toe with All Might merchandise, every nook and cranny showing off the passion the fanboy had for the hero. “...Guess facing myself properly means having to face that part of myself too…”

He was drawn from his thoughts when his phone buzzed, looking down to see a text from Tenya. ‘How are you feeling?’

Izuku smiled at the sentiment, pausing to consider a response, “...How am I feeling??...” Izuku moved to his bed as he typed a response, ‘nothing has changed from earlier’

Tenya’s response was quick, ‘I guess that makes sense.’

Izuku giggled a bit as he laid back in his bed, Tenya’s texts seemed so formal. Most of Izuku’s friends didn’t bother with complete capitalization and punctuation on the phone, ‘im guessing u probably havent used text that much, have u iida?’

‘Honestly, not mich.’ Izuku couldn’t help but laugh at the typo. He felt warm and fuzzy in his heart texting Tenya so casually like this. The class president was going out of his way to try and ensure his well being, it was sweet and made him feel cared for. That was something that felt incredibly important when he didn’t have that many friends in the past.

~~~

Tenya set down his phone. It was time to get back to work. He was surrounded by stacks of books and papers. Some of the papers were for his normal school work and studies, though he had certainly taken a lot of extra work on. It would’ve been a daunting task for any student.

One of his cheerful friends poked her head into the small classroom, “...Hey, you’ve taken a lot of extra work again Tenya.”

“....Oh, Uraraka!” He had a fond smile, “...Yes, it is a fair bit of work… But it is my duty to work hard and be an exemplary student for all.”

“...Are you sure you aren’t taking on too much for one person? You don’t need to do all of this so fast Tenya…” She tilted her head, looking at the piles of books and folders with an air of concern.

“I’m alright, Uraraka. It’s in my nature to strive towards doing the best I can.” Tenya had pulled some papers forward and had begun to read through them.

Ochaco was looking over his shoulder, “...You could pass out if you did too much work at once, Tenya.”

That was when Tenya gave a bit of a secretive smile, moving to pull out his wallet, “....I’ll be fine if that happens.” He was moving to pull out a small ID cardholder from it. “...I have the best recovery medicine here.”

Ochaco blinked, “...Is that your ID card??... That being able to help you sounds like some kinda weird fantasy, Tenya…”

Tenya was staring at the back of the card holder, “...It’s more like… a fairy tale, rather than a fantasy.”

Ochaco had the most perplexed smile, “.....I don’t get a word of what you’re saying… Anyways, I’ll join and help you study for a bit!... I’ll make sure you don’t pass out any time soon, Tenya!”

~~~

The sky was a mix of pinks and oranges by the end of the day. Tenya was surrounded by many people on the bustling train, though he wasn’t paying them any mind. His attention was focused again on the cardholder he’d shown Ochaco earlier. The front of the cardholder held his normal student ID, although there was one other card in the holder being displayed on the backside as well. It was light blue, with the words “Sanrio Puroland Annual Passport” written in colorful letters across the top. There was an illustration of Tenya’s favorite Sanrio character, Cinnamoroll, on the front as well. The white dog was in a fancy teacup, a shade of blue slightly darker than the background behind it.

It wasn’t long until Iida had arrived at the huge gates to the Sanrio Puroland theme park. The entrance truly was grand. There was a bright illuminated rainbow above the Puroland lettering. A long and intricate spire was climbing into the orange sky above, making the park seem even bigger. The whole building seemed to shine in the fleeting light of the day. There was extra attention drawn to the detailed pathways and entrance booths of the whole place. 

There was one thing that Tenya loved most about his visits to the park. He had always enjoyed the gorgeous and detailed settings of course. The park had a giant tree of wisdom shining with several colored lights and bows decorating it’s vast branches. A spiraling staircase wound around the tree trunk, Hello Kitty’s face painted in the sides of it. The theme park also hosted several other areas, each incredibly detailed. Many were themed after several of the different Sanrio characters. There were food courts and rides and character themed shops, all adding to the excitement and adorable aesthetic of the park. Though Tenya’s favorite thing was being able to meet the characters in person.

After a bit of searching he was able to come across the mascot of his favorite character, Cinnamoroll himself. The mascot’s puffy suit was as white as snow, his bright blue eyes were shining in the light. There was a pink teacup atop his head between his long, floppy ears. He was wearing a fancy blue vest and a matching blue bowtie, as many of the costumes at Sanrio Puroland had extravagant and detailed outfits.

Tenya was able to approach his favorite character and shake his big, white paws. They felt as soft as some of the clouds Cinnamoroll was often drawn to rest on. Tenya’s heart felt giddy whenever he had the chance to hold and meet the pure and sweet puppy, and he had a huge smile painted across his face. It was always something that would bring him joy. Refreshing himself in this way every so often made his life better. He would be able to recall these joyful moments in the coming days, whenever he was feeling unmotivated. It always seemed to drive him to work harder at whatever task he needed to do.

That was what was in Tenya’s mind the following morning before class, as he crossed the track finishing his long distance sprint for his quirk training. He had seemed much more energized now than he had previously, it resulted in him finishing even faster than he had before.

It was certainly something the other students watching had noticed too. Izuku, who had been continually stopping by every one of his practices to watch, was grinning with a blush on his face. He muttered a soft, “Wow….Tenya’s gotten so much stronger and faster… His drive is really something!...” to himself as he bounced a bit, unable to completely contain his excitement watching Tenya.

Soon Tenya was pulling on his school uniform in the locker room after the track practice. As he was changing into his unform’s jacket however, he began to pat the pockets, noticing an important item was missing from them.

It was an item Izuku noticed, stopping in his path so he wouldn’t step on the dropped ID cardholder laying on the sidewalk. He blinked, moving to pick it up and reading the name on the student ID displayed in the front, “....Iida’s??...” Midoriya stood with a giggle, “...He’s kind of careless if he managed to lose something so important!.....”

His lighthearted smile soon faded however. The green haired student had frozen with a small, shocked gasp, having glanced at the other card in the holder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve never been to Sanrio Puroland, it’s just a dream place I’d love to go to. All of what I know is from the Sanrio Boys anime, the Puroland website, images online and the few videos of rides I’ve seen. So if anything I wrote about the place is inaccurate I’m sowwy


	5. Facing the Issues

Tears had long since begun welling up in Izuku’s eyes, threatening to spill over. His face was red as he shouted, “...You were just covering for them because you're just like them, weren’t you?!?” He took another step towards Tenya. After finding Iida’s Puroland I.D, Midoriya had stormed over to him with a brash confrontation, “You... You just pretended to be worried about me, but you were really just protecting yourself, right?!?”

Tenya was at a loss for words, “....Midoriya… I-“

“...I...I thought you actually cared about me...” Izuku’s voice shook, and his tears began to fall, “......I thought…. That maybe.... You actually _liked_ me... but I guess it didn't mean anything to you.” The boy stood still, glaring at Tenya hurt. A moment later, he turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

“Midoriya!!” Before Tenya could run after him, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. He turned to see the Sanrio boys, Denki Kaminari, Katsuki Bakugo and Eijiro Kirishima. Their eyes were a bit wide with surprise. Tenya was still for a moment, “....Did you three… see all of that?”

“....Tenya…” Eijiro stepped forward to hand him his abandoned cardholder. It was covered in a layer of dirt, as Izuku had thrown it to the ground after realizing what was inside.

Tenya took it, while moving to wipe the dirt off, “....Thank you.”

“....I didn’t know that you liked Sanrio too.” Kirishima’s voice was softer and more serious than his usual tone.

Tenya was putting away his cardholder, “...Indeed...You had told me that the big dispute had been over interests, but it took me a while to realize it had been about Sanrio.”

“...Yeah dude, it was kinda a silly thing to be throwin’ a huge fuss about...” Denki’s arms were crossed.

“...I wasn’t exactly keeping my interests a secret from anyone.” Tenya explained, “I just don’t feel the need to bring it up that often unless I’m asked about it…”

“...But Deku thought you were tryin’ ta hide it from him, huh?” Katsuki’s glare was focused on Iida.

“....It seems so.” He replied plainly.

~~~

It was around an hour later. Izuku was grumbling softly to himself as he hugged his yellow backpack tightly to his chest. He was glaring down at his desk. His mind was focusing solely on the class president, and all the previous conversations they had had. Tenya had said that he wanted to help Midoriya. “....What a joke…” he mumbled under his breath.

Izuku soon froze, as he caught sight of Tenya himself walking into the classroom. Of course he knew that Iida was in the same classes as him, but as he wasn’t thinking clearly it was only now he realized that he didn’t want to be in class and see his face at all right now. Especially not when the austere student caught his eye and started to move silently towards Izuku’s desk. Within a few seconds Izuku stood with panic, shouting at a nearby classmate, “...I’m leaving early!”

“....But you just got here…” It was Todoroki who’d been shouted at, he was staring with a hint of confusion in his voice.

Todoroki was ignored, and Izuku left the classroom dashing past Tenya. Iida had no time to stop him, and he made a soft sound as he had to solemnly watch Izuku run past. 

~~~

“Iida, please! You gotta talk to Mr. Aizawa about it!”

“Hey, Iida, did you see about my request to use the gym from the other day?”

“Hey emergency exit! Do ya think I could borrow your notes for a bit?”

It was later in the day, just in time for the excited hour in which everyone had been let out for their lunch break. Several students were hustling around the crowded desk to talk to the class president all at once, some starting to bicker among themselves regarding who should get their turn with him first. There were several different matters at hand being thrown Iida’s way, though he was doing his best to respond to all his classmates.

“....Woah man….” Kirishima’s eyes were wide, peering into the classroom from the doorway with Bakugo and Kaminari, “...so many people want the dude’s help!”

Bakugo was grumbling, “....Let's bother him later, then we won’t have to deal with this shit.”

Denki had a devious grin, “....No no, Don’t worry boys. _I’ll_ handle this.” Then with confidence in his step, the electric teen strode into the classroom, approaching the desk of a diligent girl who seemed to be minding her own business with school work, “...Heyyy, Yaomomo!”

Yaoyorozu turned to see him, blinking with a hint of confusion, “....Oh, hello Kaminari!.... Was there something you needed?”

“...Do you think you could listen to what the people around Iida’s desk have to say and take notes on it for him??” Denki’s eyes were large and pleading, “...I could take ya out to have a lunch date with me later if you do!!~...Oh, and these two can join us!!”

That caught both of the boys’ attention, and they stiffened a bit with surprise. Kirishima turned red, “...Huh?”

Bakugo’s face was a matching hue to Kirishima’s, he gave a menacing growl, “...Don’t you dare drag me into that, Sparky.”

“....” Momo let out a bit of a sigh, “....Kaminari, I’m gay.”

“....Wha-... Aww man...” Denki’s persuasive and bold demeanor dropped immediately, there was a disappointed tone to his voice. After a moment he apologized for the flirting, “...I’m sorry then.”

Momo gave a small pitying smile, “....I can still help Iida if he needs it with everyone’s requests, you know… we don’t want him to be overworked with his role as class president, after all. I wanna help out as much as I can too.”

Denki perked up at that, “...Really??...Gosh, you’re the best Yaoyorozu!”

Soon enough order had been brought to the bustling bunch of students that had been huddling around the small desk. With Momo’s help they had been redirected into a neat line, with Yaoyorozu at the end ready to help take note of all the requests for Tenya.

“...Man, are you always this busy?” Kirishima was staring at the group of kids.

Tenya nodded, “...Yes, this is fairly normal. I make it a point to try to help everyone that I can, so people know that if they need anything they can come to me. Although usually people don’t come at me all at once like that...” He then turned to the group of boys, “....What was it you three needed?....If it’s about Midoriya, I was hoping you could wait a bit longer to figure it out…”

“...About that… do you just want us to try and handle it for you dude?” Kaminari asked, “...I mean, this whole problem started cuza us, so maybe we can just talk to the guy.”

“...No need, it’s fine.” There was a serious glint in Iida’s eye with his quick but firm response, “...I will resolve what happened between Midoriya and I this morning, you guys don’t need to worry about it… I also still need to make Midoriya properly apologize for the incident in the library...”

Denki blinked, “....But…. Iida…”

“It’s my fault for upsetting Midoriya like that this morning.” Iida continued. “...That’s why I’m going to be the one to talk him through about it.”

It was then their conversation was interrupted, as Yaoyorozu called over to the small group, “Hey, Iida! I finished taking those notes for you guys, I hope that’s able to help you out.”

Tenya smiled at her as he took the notes, thanking her politely. He began to look through the notes for a brief moment, before moving towards the group of students and addressing each of their concerns with them. Kaminari, Kirishima and Katsuki were standing still watching the class president work, with their own list of concerns growing. Though decidedly none of them addressed their concerns aloud at that time.

~~~

That night was quiet as Iida worked alone at his desk on his work from school. His dark room was illuminated by a glowing lamp in the corner. He placed down his pencil when he was done to glance at his phone. It had been opened to his text messages with Midoriya. There had only been two messages sent that day, both of which were from Iida: ‘I need to talk to you about this morning.’ ‘Won’t you answer me?’ They had been sent directly after school had gotten out, and it had been several hours since. There was still no response. 

Tenya stared at the messages for a moment. He wasn’t going to send another one, he didn’t want to agitate or upset Midoriya any further. Despite this, he still felt hurt over being ignored.... He wanted to talk it through with Izuku, explain himself and apologize for making Midoriya feel misled… Tenya eventually decided to lay down for the night, mulling over these thoughts until sleep took hold of him.

He woke to something tugging at his blankets, pulling them away. Something big and light brown was in his face; beady black eyes were staring him down as a wet nose tickled his cheek. It took him a few moments to be able to sit up and gently move the dog away from him. 

He blinked confused as to why the dog was even in his room. It was a trained service animal that usually wouldn’t wake him up like this… It was then he realized that his older brother Tensei at his door, evidently waiting for him to wake up in his wheelchair, “....It’s morning, Tenya. You’re usually up much earlier than this…. Did you sleep past your alarm??”

“....Huh??” Tenya turned towards his desk. Indeed, the time on his clock was about half an hour past when his alarm was set. Startled, he moved to get out of his bed and to get ready for the day quickly. 

By the time he left his room, it seemed that Tensei had already eaten breakfast, “...It’s strange Tenya, I don’t think I can remember a time you’ve ever missed your alarm like that… Are you feeling alright?”

“...Don’t worry about it, I’m alright!” Tenya didn’t want to worry his older brother, “...I just stayed up a bit late studying, that’s all.”

“....Alright then… Just. Remember that you don’t always need to work so hard…” Tensei’s smile was caring, “...If you don’t get proper sleep, you might get even more stressed about school… It’s okay to take it easy for your health every once in a while.”

~~~

Soon the bell had rung for class to get out. Tenya was quiet, brooding over everything that had happened as he was walking out into the hall. For a while now, Iida had noticed that Midoriya had always shown up to watch his running practices. He’d always catch him watching from the beachers, bubbling from excitement. It seemed a bit strange at first, but he seemed to have a fascination with quirks, especially with Iida’s. Today though, he was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Midoriya hadn’t been seen by any of his classmates or teachers the entire day.

Izuku looked over at his phone as it vibrated sitting about a foot away from him on his bed. His eyes narrowed a bit as he opened it and glanced over the message Tenya had sent. He moved to stuff another pastry in his mouth. Eating usually helped him when he was feeling shitty, which was justification enough for the box of sweets sitting next to him that he’d bought that morning. He huffed a bit with a soft grumble as he threw his phone aside, deciding to ignore the worried message from Tenya.

“....Midoriya is absent today….” Denki’s observation was clear.

“.....Doesn’t that bother you??” Eijiro’s forehead was furrowed in thought. “....I wonder if it’s cuza that stuff we saw yesterday… I feel like we should do something about it…”

Denki sighed, “....Nothing much we can do… Iida said he didn’t want our help.”

~~~

There was a gentle knock at the door, as his mother’s soft voice called out, “...Izuku honey? How are you feeling??”

He shifted from under his All Might colored blanket, before Izuku answered, “........Not good….. I still feel sick…”

“I see… I’m sorry dear…” Inko had moved to crack open the door and peer into the room, “....A boy stopped by to see you… He said he was in your class.”

“.... I... I don’t wanna see anyone right now…” There was a bit of alarm filling his mind at the thought of which classmate might be here to bother him, he moved to sit up from his bed, “....Who is it??”

“....He introduced himself as Tenya Iida.” Inko answered. She continued after seeing Midoriya’s pale, nervous face, “....I invited him into the living room…. Do you want me to have him leave honey? I understand if you don’t feel well enough to see people.”

Izuku paused for a moment, holding the blanket tight as he considered it.

Iida looked up when Izuku walked into the room, “.....Oh! Midoriya!” He stood, approaching the boy a bit, “.....That’s a relief… You look well…” Clearly he wasn’t well, he looked on edge and distraught. But Tenya had been worrying about his health once he’d missed school.

Izuku was glaring, “....What did you come here for?”

Tenya paused for a moment. But he kept contact with Izuku’s eyes, “....I came because I wanted to clear up a misunderstanding.”

Izuku blinked, unconvinced that Tenya’s intentions were good, “....What do you mean??”

“...I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that I like Sanrio from you… And I didn’t even know that the argument you and the others had had in the library was about Sanrio until you told me about it… I realize that I probably should’ve been honest and told you that I was interested in it as well after we had talked about it…” Tenya’s expression was solemn, “....I really do care about and wanted to help you, Midoriya. The reason I wanted to help you was because I care about you. My interest in Sanrio has nothing to do with how I feel about you.”

“...” Izuku huffed a bit, there was a soft growl to his voice, “....You really expect me to believe that?”

“....” Tenya stared at Midoriya, his eyes were a bit wide seeing his demeanor. He continued though, “....I want you to believe it.”

The two gazed at each other for a while longer, but the moment was soon interrupted as Inko entered the room. She was holding a small tray with a few cups of freshly brewed tea, the aromatic scent beginning to fill the room, “....I’m sorry to interrupt you two, I hope everything’s alright…. Oh, Iida, why don’t you come sit down??” She was getting the tea set up on the small coffee table in front of their couch. “....You sit down too, Izuku.”

Izuku had a grimace on his face, giving Iida a dirty look. Iida paused for a moment before moving to sit down on the couch like Inko had asked.

Once Izuku had sat down as well, his mother moved to give him one of the cups. “....I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but let’s try calming down a bit and drinking some tea.”

Izuku immediately stiffened, his face turning bright red, “....M-mom!!! Why did you pour it in that??”

Inko frowned, “.....I thought this mug was one of your favorites, Izuku…”

Glancing over, Iida noticed the design that was printed on the mug. It was a light green color, with an illustration of Pochacco on it.

Izuku stood again and pushed the mug away, “....Yeah, when I was in grade school… I told you, I don’t like Pochacco anymore… He’s for little babies.” 

It was then that Iida spoke up, “........I get it now…” It caught the others’ attention, making Midoriya look over. “........You really hate Sanrio now, don’t you?” He asked him. 

Izuku nodded, “......Yes! I do!” 

“...” Tenya stood, before shutting his eyes and bowing his head a bit, “.....Very well…. I’m sorry that I’ve been continuing to bring up those unpleasant feelings for you.” 

Izuku made a soft sound. After a moment, he raised his voice to a shout, “....Oh yeah, an... An apology is just gonna make it all better, right?? At least according to your reasoning...” The sarcastic remark was drenched in disdain.

“...I… Izuku!!” Inko didn’t know the full extent of what was happening between these two, but she certainly didn’t like her son’s tone of voice and rude behavior.

Izuku ignored her for the moment and continued with his yelling though, his eyes were beginning to water, “...but… I can’t just forgive you because you apologize, Iida…” 

That made Tenya stare at him for a moment, “.....Why not??”

Izuku was glaring intently, there was no answer. It prompted Tenya to ask again, “....Midoriya??”

Izuku averted his gaze to the ground, his voice lowered to a hurt grumble, “.....You can’t possibly understand the way that I feel…. Because… _you’re perfect!...”_

“...What… What is that supposed to mean??” Tenya’s voice was soft and astonished. 

Izuku’s face was red, he shouted, “...It doesn’t matter!!! Just…leave!!”

“....Wait, Midoriya… Please, explain it to me!-” Tenya had moved to get a bit closer.

“I, I don’t know!!” He made a soft flustered sound, and moved to stomp his foot a bit with his anger. “...I don’t know what exactly I’m feeling, or how to say what I mean…”

“...Midor-”

_“...Just leave me alone already, Iida!!!”_

~~~

“.....I’m sorry about Izuku’s attitude tonight… I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Inko’s voice was soft and apologetic. 

“...No no, it’s my fault for intruding on you guys like that… My apologies.” Tenya had bowed his head a bit.

Izuku couldn’t hear the two from his spot curled up in his bed. He’d hidden himself under his covers. His knuckles were white as he grabbed his pillow, his body tense and his breathing shaky as he tried to calm himself.

The sky outside was growing dark, the last amount of light fleeting from the day. Tenya was silent as he was heading back home, but his mind was racking. It was hard to understand the real issue Midoriya was facing, and what he had meant… Why couldn’t he actually help Midoriya? What kind of friend did that make him if he wasn’t able to help? It felt as if he was only making everything worse.

It was this thought that kept him up that night, and was still on his mind at his practice that morning. His speed during that regular quirk practice paled in comparison to his recent performance. 

It wasn’t long before he came across three worried faces; Kirishima, Kaminari and Bakugo. They were all looking at him with frowns. It was Denki who asked first, “....You look tired, man…. did everything go ok with you and Midoriya??”

“...” Tenya felt himself looking away. He was usually direct, but thinking about the situation and his complete failure to help Izuku gave him a feeling of shame, “...I apologize. I haven’t been able to resolve things with Midoriya yet…”

“....Yeah, about that…” Kirishima paused for a moment, thinking over his words. He stepped forward, “.....Please, Iida, let us help you man!.... We can’t just stand there watching you struggle with something that we started…”

Denki nodded, joining in, “Yeah! Like Kiri said… Even if it’s a problem between you and Midoriya, we still wanna help!”

Katsuki was standing silent between the two, watching the conversation. Though he didn’t speak up, it was clear by this point that he would usually go along with his two friends’ ideas, and would likely be willing to help as well.

“....” Tenya was quiet for a moment, before he gave a soft sigh, “....I appreciate the sentiment… But really, I’m fine.”

“.....You know, Iida…” Kirishima moved to look him in the eye, “....It made me kind of sad when you rejected our help earlier… I know you’re probably just tryin’ to just look out for us… Like, you don’t want us getting involved in a messy situation. But… It made me feel like you don’t really trust us...”

Iida’s eyebrows were creased, he was looking back at Kirishima with his eyes widened and a frown, “....No, that… That wasn’t my intention at all!... I just feel like it’s my problem, you three shouldn’t have to deal with it.”

“....Iida, that’s the problem!” Kirishima’s voice was raised and direct, “....It feels like you’re always trying to do too much all by yourself! You should let us help you, we want to help you out dude!... A real man shouldn’t be so dismissive of other people’s help.”

“....Ah…” Tenya made a soft sound, it all felt a bit overwhelming. He didn’t want to make them feel as if he was shutting them out by rejecting their help. He just hadn’t wanted to trouble them… But his relationship with Midoriya had only gotten messier. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d be able to reach him alone. “....I believe… that I understand now…”

Denki stepped forward, “...So, will you let us help you?”

“...” Tenya was silent for a moment before bowing his head, “...Yes. Please, help me…”

With that, the other boys seemed to release a collective sigh of relief. Kirishima actually smiled at him, “....Great!! We will!” He then stepped forward and took Tenya’s hand, moving to look directly at him. Tenya stared at him with a hint of confusion and surprise in his eyes, but didn’t pull away as Kirishima continued, “...I promise we’ll do our best to help you two out, Tenya!”

“....” Tenya stared at their hands together for a moment, before giving him a small smile, “....Thank you, Eijiro…” 

~~~

“...Hey, Midoriya!” Kirishima had approached the green haired student’s desk. 

Izuku scowled when he looked up to see who it was, “....What do you want??”

“...Please.” Kirishima gave him a serious look, “...You should come see Iida… I don’t think that he’s been doing well, he’s just been seeming tired and defeated. You guys really need to talk.”

 **“...No.”** Izuku’s tone was firm. “.....Why should I care how he’s doing? It’s not my problem…”

“...I… Midoriya, you should care about it man!” Kirishima’s voice was a bit raised.

“I don’t get you.” Midoriya had crossed his arms, “...However he’s doing, it has nothing to do with me. We’re not exactly friends or anything like that. I shouldn’t have to go see him just because he’s upset.”

“...Dude, it does involve you!!!” Kirishima was shouting now, clearly exasperated from the conversation. His hands were clenched into fists as he glared at Midoriya, “...You’ve just been angry and absent from class ever since you guys had your little argument and you threw his I.D. at the ground! How can you even say that it has nothing to do with you??”

Izuku turned a bit pink, “....That… That’s not why I was absent…” He averted his eyes as he lied.

Kirishima paused for a moment, “.....It’s just obvious how hard he’s been working to try and mend your guys’ relationship. Even though he’s been busy he’s still been making time for us. And I’m sure that includes you too!”

Izuku was quiet. What Kirishima had been saying was true… Tenya had been going out of his way to talk to him for awhile now… The way that he had been offering to help and talk to Izuku had made him feel better until they had their dispute. Even after that, Tenya still seemed to try to put himself out there for Midoriya.

Kirishima was giving him a small glare, “....You know, back then in the library you asked us if we were ashamed… But the way that you’ve been treating people who just want to help? I think that’s something to really be shameful of.” At that point, Kirishima was done talking to Izuku. He turned and left him sitting at his desk, deciding to head back.

The others looked up as Kirishima entered the room. Denki was the first to ask, “...Hey Ei… How did it go?”

Eijiro moved to sit with the others, “...I tried to get Midoriya to come… I didn’t have much success though…”

Denki huffed a bit, “....Well, that turned out to be a waste of time… Of course that sourpuss ain’t coming.”

Kirishima sighed, “...Yeah, he said it had nothing to do with him…. Guess he really doesn’t want to deal with it right now…”

“Go figure…” Kaminari was looking down for a moment.

“.......You idiots. Can’t you use your eyes??” Katsuki spoke up, he was staring over his shoulder. 

The comment prompted the boys to look over at him. Katsuki turned a bit to point, directing their attention to the door behind them… Where Izuku Midoriya was standing, a sullen glare on his face.

The boys stared for a moment, “...M..Midoriya?” asked Kirishima.

“...” Midoriya stared at him for a moment, before looking down with a frown, “.......I….. You’re right….. I don’t like feeling ashamed of myself…”

Tenya stood for a moment when Izuku had come in. But then, Midoriya stepped forward and approached him, “.....Iida….. I’m sorry….” There were tears in his eyes already.

“...You should be sorry, Deku…” Katsuki had decided to cut in, “....Emergency Exit always takes things way too seriously…. And he’s been working way too much cuza you lately. He’s got school and his class president shit, but now he’s had to deal with you being a brat to everyone for the past few days.” 

“...Kacchan!!!” Denki tugged a bit on his arm, “...Let him apologize without interrupting.” 

“..... And… You came to my house just to apologize to me…” Izuku was directing his attention towards Iida again, “...I’m… I’m sorry I turned you away like that… I. I said it had nothing to do with me, but that’s not true… I’ve been being awful to you… I’m sorry…I’m. I’m the worst!” Izuku was crying a lot more now, he wasn’t making any attempt to hold back his tears.

“ _....I’m_ the one who’s the worst, Midoriya…” Tenya’s voice was soft but serious.

Midoriya paused, tilting his head to look up at him, “....I.Iida??”

“...” Tenya moved to look Izuku in the eye for a few moments, before he bowed his head and shut his eyes, “....I’m sorry…. I know I upset you greatly...”

“...” Izuku paused for a moment, before shaking his head, “...Please stop, Iida… I was the one who was making it a big problem, it’s not your fault…. I’ve known that it’s not your fault… but I still made you upset and worried…”

“...It’s not that.” Everyone’s attention was on Tenya as he spoke, watching quietly, “...I told you that you had to face yourself, Midoriya… But I wasn’t doing that for myself. I’ve been ignoring everyone’s help, and focusing too hard on doing everything myself… And I know that’s been having an effect on everyone else….. That’s why I’m the worst.”

“...But. But that’s not true, you were just caring for me!” Izuku blushed, squeezing his eyes shut, “......I. I was lying the entire time…. I. I actually like Sanrio!...” He was pulling a bit on the sleeves of his clothes, his nervousness coming out, “...And… I really do like Pochacco! A lot!” His voice was a bit of a squeak.

The room was quiet for only a moment. Kirishima and Denki were gawking at him though. Kaminari’s eyes were wide, “....wait... YOU’VE LIKED IT THIS ENTIRE TIME???”

Katsuki moved to pull those two away, “...Be quiet!! Don’t shout during this, you idiot!” The three left Midoriya and Tenya in the room so they could finish the conversation alone.

Izuku was red as he explained the rest, “....I. I thought that liking something like that at my age was childish… Especially since it was something Kacchan used to tease me about… And so when I heard them talking about liking it in the library all happy like that… It made me upset and jealous....I just felt so bad… and it made me lash out against you… I’m… I’m so sorry Tenya.”

“....Midoriya.” Tenya had a fond smile on his face as he looked at Izuku, “....What’s important is that you’ve realized how you’ve been acting and that you’re apologizing for it… Thank you… It’s going to be alright.”

That was when Izuku stepped forward and threw his arms around Tenya. He started to hold onto him tightly, crying into his shirt. It only took a moment for Tenya to hug him back, moving to hold Midoriya close to him. It felt like things between them would turn out to be okay.


End file.
